Review and Swatches: Glamourdolleyes Eyeshadows

Hi guys! Today is a long overdue review of six gorgeous Glamour Doll Eyes eyeshadows that the very lovely Vanessa sent to me to try out. I got to choose six colours I thought looked interesting and she sent them internationally for me! I felt so so lucky to be able to get this opportunity, and I wanted to give a really detailed review based on my experiences with them. So let's go!

Before we get to the shadows, I'll give you some background on Glamour Doll Eyes. It's what most people refer to as an "indie" company, or individual, as they are small and often have prices that rival the drugstore, yet quality that matches the mid-range. Their eyeshadows tend to be loose, very pigmented and often come in sample sizes. They also release lots of collections and are generally very exciting! Glamour Doll Eyes started in 2008 and currently sell eyeshadow, primer, blush, glitter, and even lip products, but the eyeshadow is definitely the biggest range.

Moving on, here is what my six sample jars looked like: 

The colours I chose were:

• Bittersweet
• Mushroom
• Brown Eyed Girl
• Lethal
• Bella Donna
• Aqua Foil

I decided with this review not to give individual reviews of each colour, as I found them to be very, very consistent in quality, so I will instead give a general review of the eyeshadows I received and my overall thoughts at the bottom.

Here are my arm swatches of each colour. I put them over Jordana 12HR Made to Last Eyeshadow Stick in Continuous Almond to get more even swatches and also to compare how they lasted over the day.

From top to bottom, these are in the same order as above:

The above pictures, as with each below, have natural lighting on the left hand side and flash on the right.

Initially, I was most intrigued by Mushroom as I thought the taupe/silver duochrome (where the colours shift in different light) was absolutely gorgeous. However, I soon realised each of my colours had a very unique colour shift or colour undertone that made them stand out from any other eyeshadow colour I've tried before. These are all super shimmery and highly pigmented.

Here are close-ups of each colour and a description, before I move onto the review:


Bittersweet
Deep taupe base with orange/gold duochrome

Mushroom
Deep taupe base with silver duochrome

Brown Eyed Girl
Shimmery brown with hints of purple undertones

Lethal
Deep taupe base with purple duochrome

Bella Donna
Turquoise with subtle purple undertones

Aqua Foil
Turquoise with hint of gold

I gave myself plenty of time for this review as I really wanted to get a feel for what these eyeshadows are like, considering they were my first indie purchase and my first foray into loose shadows. So what do I think?

Firstly, each of the colours I picked are absolutely gorgeous. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. Each could be used as a single wash of colour over the lid and it would look like finished, due to their colour shifts that add real depth. Aqua Foil works really well as an inner eye pop of colour on an otherwise plain eye, and Bittersweet would have its place in any warm neutral eye look.

The sample jars I was given were very generous, with a little shadow going a very long way. I barely needed to dip my brush into the colour to get enough to cover my lid - they don't shy away from pigment over at Glamour Doll Eyes!

I also like the aesthetic of the brand as a whole - it's a breath of fresh air from other well-known brands, and I like putting these jars on display as they all match and look good together.

However, as with most products, these eyeshadows come with some negative aspects.

Firstly, I really had difficulty getting used to having loose eyeshadows. In general, you have to be a lot more careful as they can be easy to spill, and you have to watch the amount you have on your brush before you apply. However, this is obviously an issue with application I have personally, and is no reflection upon the quality of the product. It is just something for others to consider before purchasing, as I know many people mostly work with pressed eyeshadows. There is definitely a learning curve with these shadows.

Moreover, the packaging slightly bothered me as I would have preferred to have the colour name or some sort of reference to the colour on the lid of the jar, as opposed to underneath, simply so when they are all lined up I can easily grab the colour I'm looking for. I know I could always just store them upside down, but then you don't get the pretty brand name, so neither is perfect. Also, Aqua Foil unfortunately stained my Real Technique Base Shadow Brush - after a few washes it seems to be back to normal but it made me quite sad that the tip was all blue instead of white.

A full size of one of these shadows will set you back $6 USD, and you get the choice of with or without a sifter included. A sample baggie is $1.25, and a sample jar like mine is $2.50. This is seriously good value, especially if you want to try out a whole bunch of shades and you barely ever hit pan on anything (I know I don't...). GDE have free shipping on orders over $50 worldwide, and have plenty of Gifts With Purchase that change often, so you always get a little bonus!

On the whole, I'm really glad I have these shadows in my collection. They are unique, bright and fun, and the colours are very wearable. They don't get reached for as much as, say, a pressed palette, simply due to the fact they take a bit more work and aren't fully appropriate for the morning rush, but their quality cannot be overlooked. I will definitely be making a future order with them!

And that's my review for today! Have any of you tried Glamour Doll Eyes? What do you think?
Thanks for reading.

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.

Priceline Haul: 5 For Under $25

After uni one day, I decided to head to Priceline to treat myself a bit (a very tiny bit, since I knew Lorac Pro and DipBrow were on their way to me). However, I've previously been disappointed in the Pricelines around my city, either due to their limited range or out of stock products. I was AMAZED to find a practically hidden Priceline that was well-stocked and had wonderful employees, so I hauled a teeny-tiny bit - all of this added up to only $25. Pretty good if you ask me!

ModelsPrefer Infinite Colour Lip Liner; Essence Ticket to Paradise Glossy Lip Liner

ModelsPrefer Infinite Colour Lip Liner in Clearly Sealed
May I first just say I ADORE the name of this product. Its like a clever pun without being tacky or stupid. Love. I haven't made up my mind about this product yet, it doesn't seem to really extend the west time of my lipsticks or make it a more smooth application, but I've also had the driest lips ever lately, so I'm not sure I've given a fair go. This goes for $8 at Priceline and was another product I've wanted for ages but was NEVER stocked at my local (like, for the past few months its been completely empty). I'm sure once my lips improve it'll be a useful product, but I'm still thinking of investing in a good quality lip primer. It's hard to spent money on something that's essentially invisible...

Essence Ticket to Paradise Glossy Lip Liner
This was in the $2 bargain bin at Priceline, for obvious reasons - Ticket to Paradise is an old trend edition of Essence's. I have a load of orange lipsticks so I grabbed it, thinking a lip liner would be useful. I didn't read close enough that it was a 'glossy' lip liner, and therefore doesn't really work in the way I wanted it to. Glossy doesn't really give off the vibe its going to extend wear, and its not very opaque, meaning it won't really be useful to outline my lips with either. Not sure about what I'm going to use this product for yet. I'm considering it as an all-over lip colour for when I want a sheer wash of orange as opposed to all my bright matte oranges, but I'll have to try it out and see how well that works.

Essence Dark Romance Cream Highlighter. Classic me, getting my fingernail into the smooth surface before I could even get a photo.

Essence Dark Romance Cream Highlighter
I've wanted this for AGES (like since the actual trend edition came out, obviously), except by the time I got to Priceline the only one of these left was used (not even the tester, just a used one...). I wanted it SO bad I was willing to buy it and just sanitise it, but Priceline would only offer me 10% off. Really Priceline? 10% off a $5 product? Anyway, of course I didn't take up that generous offer. Come a few months later and I find a well stocked, clean Priceline in the city that has one (unused) cream highlighter left! I was so stoked. This cream highlighter is so gorgeous, with almost a duochromey effect with a pearley sheen. I LOVE that its not actually shimmery but still acts as a highlighter (if that makes sense), mostly because glitter on my cheeks scares me. It gives a natural dewy look and Im in love. The only problem is so often I forget to apply it before setting my foundation... But thats definitely my issue, not the products! I can't fault it. Sorry the swatch isn't great, it was SO hard to pick up the effect this highlighter has - I've never quite seen anything like it. Shame it's limited edition :(

Savvy by DB Lipstick in Pretty Pink, Essence Lipstick in Natural Beauty

Top: Essence. Bottom: Savvy. With and without flash.

Essence Lipstick in Natural Beauty
This is another lipstick I picked up looking for something easy to wear everyday. Its a nice, basic pink that works well as a MLBB. However, the formula is quite slippery (not as much as the Savvy one though), and has to be reapplied often. My search for an easy to wear everyday lip colour continues.

Savvy by DB Lipstick in Pretty Pink
Man its frustrating when brands change up their colours and don't tell anyone. I fell madly in love with a Savvy tester at Priceline that was under the Nude colour, but the label on the side said Pretty Pink. Yet the bottom colour of the lipstick didn't match the sealed Pretty Pinks. Grrrr. None of the lipsticks matched the colour of this tester (typical). I got the Pretty Pink anyway, mostly since the assistant helping me was so sweet, and whilst I do like this colour it's not the same as that one tester that I will forever love. Ah well. Drugstore struggles. This colour is a bit more orange/peachy than the Essence one. I prefer the colour, but the formula is very slippery and I feel like it comes off straight away. At $5ish, I'm not too devastated, but it probably won't get that much use from me.


And that was my cheapie haul! Do you own any of this? What do you think?

And of course, apologies for the less-than-frequent posts. I've just started back at uni so I'm getting into the swing of things. I've started mapping out posts on my phone whilst on public transport which has been helping me get my thoughts together!

Review: Rimmel London Fix and Perfect Primer

A quick review for you guys today since I feel so awful about not blogging in over a week! I've been looking at purchasing a new camera since my current one just isn't doing it for me and makes me not want to take pictures and hence not blog, which of course is a silly reason to not blog, but unfortunately so much of a blog post depends on good quality pictures!

Nevertheless, I have been using this primer nearly every day for a while now and feel as though I am now in a position to review it and tell you my thoughts - so here goes.

This primer comes in a shiny, white squeezy tube with dark purple writing and a matching screw on cap. One important thing to note is that this is the 001 primer - not the 002 "pro" primer, which has blue writing and isn't sold in Pricelines (or Australia at all, from what I can see). This "pro" primer seems to have many more reviews online, and also more positive ones. I haven't tried it for myself though, so I can't give any sort of comparison.

Let's have a look at what this primer tells us it's gonna do. It claims to smooth skin, and minimise pores, as well as prolong foundation wear. That's three key claims that we're going to try see if it fulfils.

The tube is a run-of-the-mill squeeze tube, with a hole large enough for a decent amount of primer to come out. A small dot goes quite a long way, and two would probably do to cover your entire face.

Yeah, I know. The primer is scary orange tinted. It freaked me out when I first saw it - I had flashbacks of BB creams labelled "light" that oxidised horribly, and my heart definitely sunk a little bit. However, once it's rubbed in, the orange tint goes away! Well, I would say at least 99% goes away. I mean, if you look closely you can see a slight difference between the second and third photos, but if you looked at the third alone, you wouldn't think that it looked weirdly orange or anything. Besides, any slight tint is easily covered by your foundation.

So let's go back to those three claims and cover them one by one.

Smooths Skin

I think this is the claim it fulfils the most. I've never had such a 'smoothing' effect with a primer before - mostly they kind of even our your skin a bit and leave it feeling nice. This primer seriously seems to make your skin feel soft, and creates a smooth base for your foundation to go over. This means that you end up with a more flawless finish whilst still looking natural. It's going to sound so silly but when I put this primer on I can't stop touching my own face since it just feels so soft.

Minimises Pores

Silicone-based primers (which this is - I'll go into a bit of detail about that later) tend to have a pore-filling effect, whereby they reduce the look of pores by essentially filling them in, leaving your skin with a smooth surface. As I said above, it definitely does smooth out my skin, and thus I've realised part of this is due to the reduction in the look of my pores - especially around my nose. However, I've never had issues with massive pores, but I've noticed that my foundation won't sink into them like it used to before I wore primer. This primer dries quickly and sinks into your skin, and if you 'tap' (as opposed to rub) it over the areas with visible pores, it will definitely help to reduce the look. It, thankfully, doesn't 'sit' on top of your skin like other 'pore-filling' silicone primers I've tried - Garnier 5 Second Blur and Maybelline's Age Rewind are definite culprits of this.

Prolongs Foundation Wear

This is, arguably, the main purpose of wearing primer - to prime your skin so your foundation can last! Whilst I will admit I don't find a huge difference in the wear of my foundation with this primer, I think its importance isn't diminished, as it provides a base for the foundation to stick to. Otherwise, it would be applied straight to your skin, which is where the issues such as pores and oiliness can surface. My nose seemed less oily when using this primer, as I feel it provided a barrier between my skin and my foundation - so, in this way, you could probably prove that foundation wear is prolonged somewhat. However, I haven't done a comparison of how my foundation lasts with and without primer, which would be needed for some more evidence one way or the other. Overall, I would say it makes a small difference in prolonging the wear of your foundation, but if you really want your foundation to last longer, investing in a decent setting powder might be a better use of your money to achieve this objective.

Something to note when using primers underneath foundation - a lot of the problems associated with primers can be avoided by ensuring that the base of your primer matches the base of your foundation. These bases are typically water, or silicone. Some might be a mix of both (and all are going to contain water obviously), but mostly you can pick one as the dominant base. You can do this by noticing the first five or so ingredients in the ingredients list, and whether any ingredients ending in -cone, -xane, or similar appear. If they do, then it's likely silicone-based. If not, water-based. Same goes for foundation.

I'll use this primer as an example. The first five ingredients are aqua/water (obviously, considering it's a liquid and all), cyclopentasiloxane, aluminium starch octenylsuccinate, propylene glycol, and phenyl trimethicone. As you continue down the list, there are plenty more -cones, silo-, and -xanes that pretty much confirm its silicone base. Comparatively, my Australis primer (in the thin white tube), has an ingredients list that reads like this: aqua, cetearyl alcohol, isononyl isononanoate, phenoxyethanol, and cetearyl isononanoate. No silicones there! Pretty evidently water-based. This would go well as a base underneath my Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream (water-based), and my Rimmel underneath my Revlon Colourstay. Whilst sometimes you can mix this up (I've used my Australis underneath my Revlon), this is a pretty safe formula to stick to.



Overall, I think this is a great budget primer for those looking for a silicone-based primer to smooth out their skin and reduce the appearance of their pores. I'm super pleased with this purchase as I got it 50% off as well, and this has jumped to the top of my "Underrated Product" list.

This primer goes for $13.95 at Priceline and is available for purchase online here.

Oops, another long one. So it goes - every time I say it's gonna be short, you can know for sure you'll be reading for a while.

Let me know what you think and I hope you learned something new!

July Favourites

It's that time of the month (no not THAT time), it's Favourites time! This is my first month of having a Favourites post, so let me know what you think of it.

I've acquired quite a few products this past month, so it was hard to pick out my favourites that I've been reaching for time and time again. I hope I've done a good job!

Chi Chi BB Cream in "Light"

If you happen to have read my blog somewhat recently, you'll have seen my full review of this BB cream - here. This is where I go into detail and include swatches and things like that. I'll give you a hint though - I love this BB Cream. It smells amazing, has a dewy finish, blends into the skin perfectly (despite looking far too yellow for me) and, once set, lasts for hours. It also feels moisturising and is a 'true' BB Cream, incorporating not only decent coverage but skincare benefits, full of yummy-sounding things like avocado oil, green tea extract, and caviar extract.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in "Vanilla"

My first purchase from Mecca Maxima, and safe to say it won't be my last. That place is addictive. I don't know if it's the reflective surfaces, or it's surprisingly expansive exterior, or simply the excitement of seeing so many product I've only ever seen online, but the whole shopping experience is so different to, say, a quick trip to Priceline (obviously, but y'know what I mean). Vanilla is the perfect shade for me, and this concealer is crazy pigmented, thick and creamy, blends like a dream and gives a nice 'radiant' or glowy finish. Blows all my other concealers out of the water.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in "Peach Glow"

I picked this up because I love my Stay Matte in Transparent, but was looking for a powder to set my concealer with that would highlight underneath my eyes. I don't notice a huge difference between this and the Transparent, but this evens out my foundation a bit more and just blends everything together. A daily go-to!

Milani Baked Blush in "Luminoso"

The cult product - and for good reason. The right amount of pigment, slight shimmer and soft as butter. This is an easy blush to wear everyday because it's not easy to overdo, and just looks super natural - no one's going to think "why are her cheeks orange?!" I promise you. For a very pretty price of about $8 (US), this is available from Cherry Culture or Beauty Joint for us Aussies.

NYX Powder Blush in "Taupe"
Another cult product that I had to try out. I love this for basic contouring, as it is a perfect cool-toned brown that looks natural. It's easy to blend and also works well as an eyeshadow crease colour for when I'm feeling lazy - this and nothing else gives a bit of dimension to an otherwise plain looking eye. This isn't available in stores, only online, so definitely go have a look!

Rimmel London Fix and Perfect Primer in 001
I didn't have high hopes for this primer, but when I saw it on sale for half price I went "eh" and picked it up. I also realised its counterpart, the Pro Primer in 002, is the one with the raving reviews online, not so much this one. However, I think it deserves them! This is the only silicone primer I've found that actually dries and doesn't just sit on top of my skin and make my foundation slide around. It has a weird orange tinge which is a tiny bit noticeable when you apply it, but disappears completely once you put something on top. It makes your skin feel SO smooth and even minimises the look of my pores.

Daiso Brand Ellefar Felt Eyeliner
For $2.80, I couldn't help but pick this felt tip liner up. I'm a huge liquid liner lover, so I thought I'd try it out. I've found myself reaching for it a lot this month because it's simply SO black, it shows up my Maybelline Master Precise for sure! It has issues with smudging as soon as it gets wet, but for every day looks its an easy and cheap fix that seems like it'll last for ages!


What do you think of my Favourites for the month? Any of these your July Favourite too? Let me know!