Review: Morphe Jaclyn Hill Palette (Bling Boss)

                This beauty is the first Morphe Palette I've ever bought and now 
                reviewed. I've heard mixed reviews on their brand as a whole, but I 
                wanted to try this palette out and come to my own conclusion. The first 
                thing I noticed when I opened the box is some bubble wrap protecting 
                the eyeshadow palette inside. This is the only palette I've bought that 
                had this protective feature which I really appreciate.
      

            The packaging in clean and simple. Making it even more affordable
            and appealing to newbies trying out Morphe products. Despite it's
            super affordable price it has a decent sized mirror, and the matte
            silver packaging makes the ten shades inside pop even more.
      

            There are four matte shades, four shimmer shades and two foiled 
            shades. As for blending, the shimmer and foiled shades blend beautifully. 
            Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for some of the matte shades like 
            'Rockstar'. As you can see from my swatches, it went on chunky and 
            took 8 swatches to get to the point you see in the photo! It's such a 
            pretty shade but the formula seems so different from the others. 
            However, I'd say my favorite shades are 'Gem', 'Ballsy' and 
            'Berry Treasure'.

Amazing pigment; Gem blended out very well

You can see where 'Rockstar' was not blending out

            Would I recommend this eyeshadow palette?

            I would for those on a budget who want some glam in their life, 
            and with patience when it comes to carefully blending out a couple 
            difficult shades.

Review: Too Faced Just Peachy Mattes Palette

At first I had my sights set on the popular Sweet Peach palette which at one point
was extremely hard (as well as pricey) to get when I was previously based in Australia. 

Having left a lot of my makeup collection behind I wanted to build it back up with the
most versatile colors.

The palette features 12 shades that go seamlessly with one another. From an almost
pure white to an almost charcoal black. Each eyeshadow is so easy to blend and has
more intense color than you would guess. The only negatives I found was some fall out
when applied, and the shade 'Chocolate Dipped' was hard to blend out as you can see 
from my swatch.

My Favorite Colour Combo:

Peach Tea, Fresh Picked and Just Ripe

Does it really smell like peaches? YES. It doesn’t kind of smell like them. In fact, it literally
smells like a fresh peach that you have taken a bite out of, or even a freshly baked dessert.
Too Faced Cosmetics has taken their talent for adding scents to each of these beautiful matte
eyeshadows and nailed it. 

Review: Tarte Rain Forest By The Sea Palette II

              When I first laid eyes on this pallete I was attracted to the darker colors 

             instantly. Tarte described how this palette's eyeshadows contained built-in 

             primer. The second thing that drew me in was the stunning packaging. It's

             not only stylish, but functional.The mirror with Tarte's logo is large and very

             helpful. Tarte is always generous with their mirror size inside palettes.

Swatches

My favorite colors are Pearl (Foiled), Sunset (Shimmery), Seaside (Matte), and Breezy (Matte).
The swatches above took a minimum of three swipes to be as pigmented as they look. I believe
that this is due to the built-in primer that the Rainforest By The Sea collection prides itself on. Having the built-in primer was definitely a selling point for me, but it seems to make it harder to blend once it is applied. The key to using this palette is patience and LOTS of layers in order
for you to get the pigmentation you see above. Please comment below if you have used this palette and let me know how it works for you.

RCK: Red Carpet Kolour Review

First off, I got this product awhile back and only tried once. I wore it all over the parts

of my body that would be showing for a Halloween event. The product did give me 

an amazing glow and lasted all night long (despite sweating and clothing contact).  

I didn't know you could also use it on your face if done correctly. I've noticed a 

couple reviews that are out there from people who are either sponsored or have a 

PR relationship with the brand itself. When I see reviews like that I think twice
  about believing their opinion which may be a bit biased. 

So, I grabbed a new brush intent on testing it on my face, something I have seen

in a blog or two from makeup artists recommending this product as a 'must-have'.

My skin is fairly pale and I was concerned that even the 'light' version of this product

would be vastly noticeable after drying. I washed, dried my skin, and applied some 

drug store primer before testing this product. My skin has been VERY dry as we are 

just coming out of a brutal winter here in Australia, therefor I recommend exfoliating

 and cleansing any dry dead skin away before application of this product. RCK Body 

Glow takes up to 5 minutes to dry. With a brush you have to be very careful how

hard you brush it in so that you don't leave lines or streaks (blend away!). 

Small Amount of Product Not Yet Blended In 

After blending product without Primer into my hand

With Flash it has a gorgeous golden undertone
and covers any uneven tones in your skin.

I applied the product to my face and made sure to blend it out as much as 

I possibly could with a foundation brush before it dried. It dries fairly quick,  

and if you ad additional product over the area you have blended some in already  

it will just build up and become darker as you can see on my left cheek above.  

My usually pale skin looked tanned and when the light is on my skin it has a  

almost pale golden shine to it (as pictured below). I am not wearing any blush, 

bronzer or using a contour palette.

The overall results were amazing! My skin looks sun-kissed  and relatively even.The only
two negatives I could find is;  One, that it dries quickly and if not blended out will leave
streaks. Two, you will feel it on your skin throughout the day as it is fairly thick after being
applied. I won't be using it as an everyday product, but it is nice to have if I want to use on
my body to even out skin tone or cover scarring. 

Review of Sleek Makeup Solstice Highlight Palette

      When I first heard about the this highlighting palette I knew I needed to try it 

       out for myself. The reviews I came across seemed almost too good for such an 

       affordable palette ($15-40 AUD depending on the seller). They are pretty hard to
       find in Australia so I ordered it from the UK and waited a little over 2 weeks to
       receive it. 

      The packaging is very nice, and almost reminds me of some Tarte Palettes I've

      come across. The amount of product you get in this palette seems very generous.

      I don't think I'll be using the type of brush provided as I have some decent highlight
      brushes to apply it with, but it is nice to have a brush provided either way. 

With Flash 

Without Flash

      As you can see from the swatches above and swipes with my finger 

      below it is fairly pigmented. Each shade is stunning and unique in its
      own way. I knew that this little palette had good reviews, but it is incredible
      value for the price. I've seen Too Faced highlighters with less pigmentation
      than this amazing little palette. For 1,2 & 4 I swiped three times to get the
      swatch above. For 3 It is thicker and more of a cream texture so it took
      between 1-2 swipes to the swatch above. 

      Any doubts about this product have certainly been put to rest as far as
      I am concerned. I am still blown away by how amazing these four shades
      look after being thoroughly swatched. I can't argue with the overall quality  
      in this product in any way. I'd love to hear from anyone who has used this
      palette and what your experience with it has been like.

My Fav Swatches Coastal Scents 120 Five Palette

As you probably already know from this blog, I like to test products before fully
reviewing them. This palette was no different, and I wanted to give it the time

and respect it deserves by testing out a variety of colours. Coastal Scents put
out quality products that are also pretty damn affordable. So here some of my
favourite swatches from the 120 Five Palette.


The formulas vary from Matte shades that need building up. The foiled shades
are pigmented and go on so smoothly. Shimmery shades that have a buttery
formula which barely needs to be touched for a decent swatch. I did not apply
primer before swatching these shades. Each swatch took between 2-3 swipes,
but the matte shades needed to be blended more than the foiled and shimmery
shades. 

Number 3, 14 and 18 are comparable in quality to some of the shades/formulas
I have found in Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette. Yes, that is a big claim and huge
price difference between these two products. You get quite a bit out of this
diverse Coastal Scents Palette. They give you quality eye shadows that can
almost be compared to larger premium brands for just 1/4 of the price tag. 
If you want a wide variety of colours to play with without having to commit 
to buying an $80 (AUD) eye shadow palette...I highly recommend this one or
any of Coastal Scents range of products. 



Note: All images above are property of this blog and the owner.
          Please do not use without expressed permission.

Colourpop Matte Lip Gloss Tried and Tested

I didn't know exactly what to expect when I bought Colourpop lip products
having never used them in the past. There are so many beauty gurus who
have used their products, and I wanted to test them out thoroughly myself. 
I picked two colours that I wanted to add to my collection.


Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip In Lumiere 2

This was the first colour I picked to try from Colourpop's Ultra Matte
Lip range. One of the reasons I chose it was because it is also
recommended as a dupe for Kylie Cosmetics Dolce K liquid lipstick.

This colour took a few minutes to fully dry and become matte without

transferring or smudging. The image above is a bit lighter than the
actual shade as you can see from my photos below. 

Wearing Lumiere 2

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip In Teeny Tiny

A helpful tip on spotting fake Colourpop lip gloss would be the lack of

bright lime green on the inside of the packing (not pictured). There are

so many fakes online I encourage you to do your research like I did to

be able to weed out which ones are not the real thing. 

Wearing Teeny Tiny 

The second colour I wanted to try is Colourpop's Teeny Tiny. This
was a suggested dupe of Kylie Cosmetics Dolce K liquid lipstick.

This colour dried fairly quicker than Lumiere 2, not sure exactly why

that would be. This colour is so bold and deep. I was worried it would
be too dark for me when it arrived but after drying I was happy to pair
it with cool-toned earthy colours.  

Immediately after swatching

24 hours after swatching

I wanted to put this swatch through a 24 hour wear test on my hand

to see how much it faded. As you can see above, even after washing
my hands several times and sleeping with it on it it's staying power is
impressive. The only problem I ran into is when you eat oily foods  it
will remove the lip gloss fairly easily. All in all these have become my
favourite long-lasting lip glosses. 

Lululemon Athletica Clothing Haul

I recently got a bunch of new clothes from Lululemon Athletica. Some of
you will probably be unfamiliar with the brand,which in its last year earned
between 2 and 2.4 Billion dollars in revenue worldwide. They have just
recently tapped in to social media advertising and are pushing their brand
more. Hard to believe based on their previous earnings. Especially given
most sales were inspired by word-of-mouth or brand ambassadors in the
fitness community.


The quality of their clothing is amazing, and they have a great policies in
place if your item's quality is not up to par (such as: piling, running seams,
broken zipper, ect). These are a few of the reasons on why I highly
recommend their clothing/sportswear.

The first item I picked up I *believe* is the...

Lululemon Swiftly Tech Long Sleeve Shirt. I wanted something loose fitting
and fresh looking for winter. This shirt is perfect for layering with tank tops or
sports bras. It is very sheer as you can see in the close-up.I love the little lace
pattern on the sides near the sheer portion of the shirt. It adds a bit of femininity
to the shirt itself.Thumb holes are handy for keeping your hands warm while
adding functionality.

Lululemon Yogini 5 Year Long Sleeve Striped Tee has to become
my current favourite shirt. It is incredibly soft and stretchy. Another
good shirt for layering underneath as it is fairly sheer, but if you wear
a nude bra you could probably get away with not wearing one. 

Credit: Lululemon.com

Wunder Under Pant Hi-Rise (Full Luon) is something one of favourite
pieces from Lululemon.  Luon is Lululemon's signature four-way stretch
fabric is sweat-wicking and cottony soft with performance fabric for its
serious stretch and recovery. It's so comfortable and quite breathable.

Scuba Hoodie Terry III in Heathered Space Dye has become my new
favourite light zip hoodie. Normally, I don't get heaps of grey clothing, but
this jacket goes with almost any colour. It's very soft as well as light weight.

Goose Down Hooded Vest  (I didn't catch the name on this one)

This is such a unique piece, and best of all it is reversible! The 

outside is a deep green with a scale pattern which is emphasised
by light, while the inside is in black. It hangs loosely on my frame
and is so comfortable to wear with many layers on. 

The sides of this jacket have two buttons on each side that detach, making this a very expensive poncho :)

Large zip pockets on the inside that can hold almost any mobile phone

Love the brand badges that are always put somewhere visibly on the clothing

Even buttons have Lululemon on them