I know it's been agessss since I've posted, and I'm so sorry. I did actually try to write this review on Thursday, but I got about half way through and my Internet crashed.. My draft wasn't saved because there was a problem with the photos or something.. So yeah. Now is the first time since then that I've had to re-write this blog. The other reason why I've been away is that my sister (who lives 8 hours away) came to visit for Father's Day and my mum's birthday last week, and she's getting married so we've been going bridal shopping and all that. On top of that, I've been having horrible long shifts at work, and there's always so much to do with our house since we're selling soon! But anyways, I'm back from that break, and to make up for lost time I'm posting a review for six of my favourte products!
Hopefully, you'll also notice that the photo quality is a much higher standard to those of my previous posts. I decided to step it up a few notches, particularly since I have an amazing camera that I don't use as much as I should. So it's time to get a little more creative. Unfortunately, I haven't taken any photos of myself with any of the products on.. I'm pretty terrible with self-portraits, but I will work on it and have some for you in the future! So with all of that being said, bare in mind that these photos do take a bit of time to set up, take and then transfer to my laptop, and further to my iPad (since I don't trust my laptop with my blog posts anymore). So please forgive me if I'm not updating as regularly as you'd like, and remember that it's because I'm putting much more effort into my posts.
So without further ado, we shall begin.
These here are my lovely Bourjois '1 Seconde' nail polishes. These two colours are 'Figue Chic' (#13) and 'Bleu Water' (#08) respectively. I only bought these two a few weeks ago, and I'm already hooked. I've had the blue on both my fingernails and toenails, and the purple on my fingernails. They're both really nice colours, they're not too bright and not metallic. I'm not a fan of metallic fingernail for some reason. Anyways, for us Southern Hemisphere peoples, I personally think they're a lovely Winter to Spring transition colour.
These paint on quite nicely, they have thick, soft brushes so they're quite quick to apply. They also dry fairly quickly - obviously the more coats you do, the longer they take to dry. I found a happy medium with only two coats on my fingernails (without any base of top coat, because I actually find painting my nails quite a chore). I'm glad to report they stayed quite lovely for about a week. That may or may not seem like a long time, but I'm incredibly clumsy with my hands, and I also work in a hardware store which is fairly hands-on.
So in all, I really like these two colours, and I highly recommend them if you're looking for a few nice, easy-to-wear nail colours that don't take too long to apply and dry. And if you do end up purchasing them, I hope you like them as much as I do!
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This here is a Face of Australia lipstick or 'Mineral Lip Shine' in the colour 'First Kiss'. I'm so in love with this gorgeous stuff. I've had it for maybe a week, and it's already half gone! I've barely been using anything else. It's such a lovely natural lip colour that I love for work, shopping, and social events. It's incredibly versatile and looks lovely with all of my favourite eye make up looks. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but it's also a tad shimmery. Now, I'm not usually a shimmery lip kind of person (my lips are fairly thick, but not very defined, so I don't usually accentuate them as much as I'd like to.. It also makes finding good lipstick colours quite a challenge), but this brings them out just enough to balance my face out, without looking too bold.
It's a very moisturising lipstick, my lips always feel soft and supple after I've been wearing this all day. It also tastes pretty good! There's nothing worse than loving how a lipstick looks, but not being able to wear it because it tastes horrible. So I would completely suggest this product if you like the look of it! The only thing is that I'm not too sure if you'd be able to purchase this product outside of Australia. Though, I'm sure you could probably find it on the Internet somewhere.
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This next photo is my Innoxa eyeshadow palette in 'Blushing Blossom'. The palette contains 4 eye shadows, a little double sided spongy applicator and a small mirror. Honestly, at first I didn't love this product, but I've played around with it quite a lot and it's become one of my favourite eyeshadow palettes. The reason that I didn't really love it at first was mainly because the two darker colours are quite strong. You need to be fairly careful when applying them, and just apply them little bit by little bit so you don't over do it.
Once I figured out how to work the colours properly, I fell in love. At the shop, I was instantly drawn to the colours, as I love pinks and purples (they tend to bring out my brown eyes fairly nicely). The lightest colour is like a shimmery beige colour. I tend to just use this around the inner corner of my eye and just below the outer eyebrow. The contrast of light shimmery colours against my skin tone highlights and accentuates the eye. I use the second pale rose colour all over the lid and then blend into the crease of my eye. I really like the pale pink as the main eye colour. I think it just makes the eye pop, but not too boldly. I then use either (or occasionally both) of the two darker colours just to shade around the outer lid. Like I said earlier, just in small amounts because they are strong and dark colour. Once it's all blended in and I've added a little eyeliner and mascara, I think it becomes such a pretty eye look.
The eyeshadows are actually quite powdery, and a fair bit gets on to the brush, so try to make sure you either blow or shake the brush before applying so it doesn't fall underneath your eye (that's a real pain to try to remove). I would also recommend using a different brush to the one supplied. It's just my preference, but I don't really like using spongy brushes, as I don't think they give as natural a feel as regular brushes do.
Innoxa is a magnificent brand if you suffer from sensitive skin or eyes in particular as they specialise in hypo-allergenic products. And better yet (like all of the products I use) they're 100% cruelty free. So I completely recommend this incredible brand (they have become a staple in my make up routine, I have foundations, lipsticks, nail polishes, etc. all in their brand). Please do get on board and support them!
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These here are five of my favourite brushes from Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman. In order from the back to the front, these brushes are 'Buffing Brush', 'Expert Face Brush' 'Contour Brush', 'Pointed Foundation Brush' and 'Detailer Brush'. These brushes were such a good investment. They're all different shapes and sizes, and I use them all so much. They're made of taklon, which is a synthetic fibre created specifically for artist's paintbrushes, make up brushes and the like, making them cruelty free!
I actually don't use most of the brushes for what they're actually designed for, but they work for me in different ways. I generally use the 'Buffing Brush' as a bronzer brush. I don't actually always use bronzer, just usually on days when I feel a bit washed out. I think this brush is perfect for it because I find it's just the right size to fit under my cheek bones and it picks up enough powder to give me a sun-kissed look.
The 'Expert Face Brush' I use (along with my fingers) for liquid foundation. I used to really hate using a brush for anything liquid, but I've grown to see the purpose of it. It's a really dense, round brush, so it spreads the foundation around quite well. Because of the rounded shape, it's also easy for the brush to get into places like the sides of the nose and around the eye. This is probably my favourite brush of all.
The 'Contour Brush' I actually use for highlighting. It's really soft and rounded and despite what the picture might have you believe, the brush is only about the size of my thumb. I think it's great for highlighting because it just glides along the top of my cheek bones like it was made to. It's softness is also great for around the sensitive eye area.
The 'Pointed Foundation Brush' I generally use for concealer. I use a stick concealer and I draw it onto my face, then blend with this brush. I think it works quite well, because it's not as soft as the other brushes, meaning it blends the thicker product more easily. The pointed tip also makes it easy to get into nooks and crannies in the face, giving you a flawless finish.
The 'Detailer Brush' is what I use for various tasks. I've used it for eyebrows, lips, eyeshadow and concealer, obviously after cleaning. I find it works as that multi-tasking brush you can use for pretty much anything. It's quite small, so as the name would suggest, great for little details.
I highly recommend Real Techniques. I love their stance on the make up industry. They have a great user-friendly website (I purchased my brushes online), the prices are all very reasonable, and it's worth mentioning that shipping was extremely fast here in Australia. Definitely my favourite make up brush brand.
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This here is my Natio 'Sheer Delight' blush and bronze. This has absolutely become my vice for blush and bronzer. I've barely touched any of my other blushes or bronzers since I purchased this. It's just so easy to use. You've got both products in one palette and a little compact mirror too. It even has instructions on the bottom!
It's a mix of five shades of varying pinks and browns, all of which are designed to work together as one. You can choose to either use them as a separate blush and bronzer, or you can use your brush to combine all the colours to create a radiant, shimmery look. It literally takes about 30 seconds to apply, and you instantly look lovely. This is generally the only colouring product that I use on my cheeks, chin and nose.
This is my favourite combination blush and bronzer I have ever had, and I totally think it's worth it. Natio is a very natural brand, and extremely well priced. I definitely suggest you check them out. Natio is actually the first brand I used when I decided to use only cruelty-free products, so I've been a supporter for a long time, and I still love them.
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Last but definitely not least, my Natio Extreme Volume mascara in Brown-Black. I love this mascara. It's probably favourite out of all the mascaras that I've tried (and that is actually quite a few). I absolutely hate clumpy spidery eyelashes. I think they're really unattractive, so it actually took me a long time to find a mascara that gives you a significant amount of volume without clumping your eyelashes and turning you into Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove.
The colour of this one is a black-brown, as described. I prefer this colour over pitch black as I just think it looks a little more natural. The applicator is pretty standard, it's just a little plastic brush, not too difficult to use. I think this is just a lovely natural looking mascara perfect for general, everyday make up. Again, in Natio which is one of my favourite brands in the world.
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So that's all I've got for today. I really hope you enjoyed my reviews, and I definitely urge you to check out the products, it'll be worth it, I promise! Please, if you're not already doing so, do the innocent animals of the world a favour and support cruelty-free products whenever you can. No one, from an ant to an elephant deserves to be locked up against their will and tortured just so we can look in the mirror and feel good about ourselves!
Again, I hope you enjoyed. Sorry that it's been so long, and I will try harder to update more regularly! I'd like to make note that I wasn't sponsored or anything by these brands. I just get really excited about products that I like. Make sure to leave me a comment with your favourite make up and beauty bits and pieces! I'm always on the look out for new things to try. As always, hope you're having a lovely day.
Stay peachy!
~Carly
