August Favourites 2013

Yay my first favourites post. I love reading about peoples favourite products and watching favourite videos one YouTube. So here are my August favourites!

(excuse the dirty brushes but cleaning them is so annoying, I'm lazy!)

My first favourite is Mac Fix+

This has so many uses I think it is a must have for everyones makeup kit. The bottle says it is a 'skin refresher/finishing mist'. I love using this spray for both of these uses. Sometimes it's nice to use a little spray on your face before you put your makeup on to make your skin feel nice and fresh. What I really love using this for is after I have finished my makeup. I always use a powder to set my makeup and sometimes it is nice to spray a bit of Fix+ to give your face a more dewy finish. You can also use fix+ on your eyeshadow brush to make your eyeshadow colours more vibrant. So I have been loving using Fix+ this month. 

My next favourite is Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream shade Medium

I have only used one BB cream before and I hated it and was turned off BB creams all together because I thought none of them would give me the higher coverage I like on my skin. But I saw this new BB cream by Maybelline that has 2% salicylic acid plus it was half price at Priceline, so I thought I would give it ago. After the first use I fell in love! It had really nice medium coverage that I did not expect from a BB cream. It is for oily skin but I have more normal skin so I can't comment on its oil control. As for the 2% salicylic acid I am going to do a full review on this product maybe next week or the week after so I can see if it does help with my skin. But I have now converted to BB creams as a nice alternative to foundations!

Next favourite is NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Beige

I really wanted to try this lip gloss because it was one of Tanya Burr from YouTubes favourite glosses. I got this from Nordstrom, where there was a few NYX lip gloss' and one of the colours happened to be Beige, so had to get it. As you can probably tell it is not a beige. It is a dark pink colour that is almost like a your lips but better colour. It is really pigmented and a great colour that can go with many makeup looks. I have been using this a lot this month and I love it. It has a nice cherry flavour too.

Next is Revlon Super LustrousLipstick in shade 668 Primrose.

This lipstick colour is a similar shade to the NYX gloss. It is a dark pink but it is brighter than the gloss. It has a little bit of a shimmer but not to intense. It is quite creamy when you put it on but it can become quite drying as the day goes on. But I have just been loving it. It is quite different to any lipstick I own and it is a great everyday colour if you want to wear a nice colour on your lips that isn't too bright for winter.

My last favourites are The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and Blush Brush

I have been using these brushes every time I apply foundation and blush this month. My very first post is a review on these brushes. They are amazing, go check it out.

I hope you enjoyed my favourites and thanks for reading.

REVIEW: Makeup Academy & Fashionista

I was looking at trying some new makeup about a month ago and decided to have a look at MUA (Makeup Academy) UK. The first thing I saw on their website was "Create Your Own Palette." I clicked into it and was so excited. The create your own palette was from the Fashionista range. Through some research I believe that Fashionista was it's own company that MUA has now taken over.

I wanted to give them a go and MUA had a special running, which offered free international shipping on all orders over £20. So I went a little crazy, buying some MUA products as well. But everything is so cheap, going crazy hardly put a dint in my bank account. Altogether my total order came to a total of £21.50 which was roughly $36 AUD.

One negative about my MUA experience was that I originally ordered 17 items but only 15 came. I did get about $4 straight back into my paypal account and the items were crossed off on my invoice, however I was just a little disappointed. Other than that, everything was great.

So lets get into what I got and what I think of everything.
This is everything I got and for only $36!!!

EYE SHADOW PALETTE
The palette cost                 $5.22
Individual eyeshadow       $2.87ea

The one missing colour was sultry which was nice dark red that didn't come in my order :(
Getting the eyeshadow out of their individual case and into the palette is very easy. All you have to do is pop the eyeshadow out of it's case and place it in the palette. Everything is magnetised to everything stays in place as well.

 gold rush, bella, subtle glamour, trend setter, fresh air

GOLD RUSH is a really nice browny gold colour, BELLA is a really nice gold shimmer shade, SUBTLE GLAMOUR is a little bit chalky but blends out well, TREND SETTER is a really nice unique colour as it has gold shimmer throughout the blue, FRESH AIR has really great pigmentation and just a really nice colour.

BLUSH & BRONZER PALETTE
The palette cost               $3.48
Blushers and bronzer      $2.87ea

 dubai, london, blushing, la

DUBAI is a dark bronzer that can be quite orangey but has a nice subtle shimmer, LONDON is a peachy blush with a nice shimmer that isn't as pigmented as the others, BLUSHING is nice pink with nice pigmentation, LA is a lighter matte bronzer. All have great colour payoff.

NEW 2013 BLUSHER
Blusher       $1.74ea

 The colours are much brighter than they are on camera!

lolly, marshmallow, candyfloss

LOLLY is a really vibrant peachy colour, MARSHMALLOW is a really nice pale pink but is still quite bright, CANDYFLOSS is my new favourite blush it is just the perfect everyday colour it is a rosy pink and it's just amazing!

Lastly LIQUID EYELINER
Eyeliner      $1.74

They eyeliner is just like any other eyeliner but this one is super cheap however I have recently discovered that it does not have great lasting power.

Overall I love everything, go check it out at muastore.co.uk. Designing your own palettes is especially fun and those cheap blushers are amazing!!

Thanks for reading!

An Unlikely Beauty Best Friend

Hey and welcome back to my blog! Today’s post seems a bit random but stick with me. I wanted to write something different that will be useful to all you beauty lovers.

So my unlikely beauty best friend is sticky tape. 

I know I sound crazy but it really is a great tool and comes in very handy.

So below I will be showing you three ways you can incorporate sticky tape into your routine to make your life a little bit easier.

No. 1. No Fallout Smokey Eye

This tip is no secret but a great way to use sticky tape so I couldn’t leave it out of this post. This tip is for easy eye make up application. For us girls who apply their foundation before their eye makeup, eye shadow fallout will be major pain. So placing a little strip of tape below your eye like the image below will prevent this.

Always remove some of the tackiness before you put the tape on your face. You can do this by pulling the tape on and off the back of your hand a few times. This will help prevent it pulling off some of your foundation.

Also make sure you put the tape in the exact position you want it. The tape is really handy if you are like me and need help creating a crisp line with eyeliner, eye shadow or both. You want that line to be on the right angle so the product really frames your eye. I place my tape staring from under my lower lash line upward, toward the corner of my eyebrow and this gives me my perfect line.

Play around with it. Practice an eye look using the tape so you can find the best way to use it on you.

2. Nail Salon at Home

Some may also know this use, it is great way to achieve fabulous looking nails with no hassle and without going to the nail salon. Nail art is currently trending and although finished looks may seem impossible to achieve by yourself, I am here to tell you that it’s not that hard! And I can talk, because I am possibly the worst nail painter of all time. Never do I do my nails without some sort of smudging or gigantic mishap happening.

So take it from me, you can create interesting artistic designer nails at home and sticky tape will come in very handy. 

Firstly paint a couple coats of your chosen base colour, like you would normally do your nails. Always let your base colour completely dry before placing any tape on the nails. Then just place the tape on any nails you would like to have a pattern on. Again you will have to remove some tackiness from the tape.

You can create all sorts of patterns! You can create shapes like the image above where the tape creates a triangle. You can paint half or a third of a nail a different colour. You can also create small lines to create patterns. 

The possibilities are endless! All you have to remember is to stick down the tape properly then paint the exposed area. Wait until the polish is completely dry to remove the sticky tape for the best result.

 No. 3 Handy Bracelet Helper

I love this tip and even though it isn't make up related, it is really helpful!

Have you ever wanted to wear a fabulous bracelet but had to leave it at home because there was no one to help you do up the clasp? Ever have to twist your hands into crazy position to try and do your bracelet up? Sticky tape can help!

Use the sticky tape to tape the side without the clasp of your bracelet down to your wrist. Then simply take the clasp and thread it through the other side. It's so easy because the other side stays in place and you don't have to chase it with the clasp. Try it at home and you will be able to wear your favourite bracelets all the time!

Thanks sticky tape for being so helpful!!
Hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for reading.

REVIEW: Real Techniques - Duo Fibre Collection

Hi guys welcome to my blog and thank you for reading me very first blog post!
My name is Ellen. 
I'm 20 and from Melbourne.
I am an advertising student and addicted to make up!!  
I have created this blog so I can write about make up and just have fun with it.

So for my post I will be doing a review on the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman - Limited Edition Duo Fibre Brush Collection.  

For those who live in Australia, you will know that Real Techniques brushes are grossly over priced. So recently I made an iherb order. iherb is an online store based in America which sells many things which include supplements, health foods and beauty products. They stock Real Techniques brushes and other cosmetic brands such as Eco Tools and Physician's Formula. iherb is where I saw the Duo Fibre Collection and wanted to try it. 

I have only ever used a couple of duo fibre brushes that I really like so I wanted to try more. I have a mixed view of these brushes. They do the job, are good quality and very nice on the skin. I have found ways to incorporate them into my make up routine, however I don't find them as unique as I thought they would be as I already have brushes that do the exact same job. 

There are three brushes in the set which include a face brush, contour brush and eye brush. 

 The face brush is obviously the largest brush in the collection. Personally it was not dense enough for me to use it with liquid foundation because I like a fuller coverage look. However if you like a lighter foundation coverage use a BB cream or powder foundation, you may really like this brush. I have been using this brush with my setting powder. I am used to using a translucent powder however I have recently purchased Mac Studio Fix Powder which can add some extra coverage. So using the duo fibre brush allows me to only use a light layer of powder and not cake it up which is really handy. 

 The eye brush is my favourite as I only have one other eye brush that I like using in the crease and for blending. This brush is great for everyday use when you only want a subtle eye look but can also be great for building colour on a darker eye look. This brush (like the whole set) is great for beginners as they don't pack on colour but instead allow you to layer and add colour and coverage as needed.

Finally the contour brush. This brush is also great for everyday contouring as it creates a great subtle look. However you still have to be careful as colour does cling to the tip of the brush and if not tapped out you will end up with a big clump of product on your cheek (speaking from experience here) which may be very hard to blend out.  I also like this brush for applying and setting concealer. 

Overall if you need brushes for any of the uses I have mentioned, this set is great. Especially for beginners as they will give you great control. However if you have a great brush collection then this set is not a must. 
These brushes are priced at $19.99 on iherb and are unfortunately not available in Australia as far as I know. Check them out at iherb.com

Thanks for reading