The Eyeshadow Tag

Thank you for nominating me to do this tag Alyssa!

Rules:

1. Tag 3 bloggers to answer these same questions
2. Those bloggers will TAG 3 more bloggers of their choice with the same questions & rules
3. No tag backs

Questions:

1. How many eyeshadows do you own?
I own quite a lot of eyeshadows! I would say roughly 30 to 40 but I’ve never counted them one by one.

2. What was your first ever eye shadow?
I honestly don’t know if this is for sure my first ever eyeshadow but I believe it was a quad by Estee Lauder! My mum doesn’t use eye makeup so she always gave me all the free gift with purchases.

3. What is your most worn eye shadow?
Right now, probably my Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette! =) I’ve been using the shades Marzipan and Salted Caramel a lot.

4. What is your favourite brand for eye shadows?
This is tough! I don’t have a lot of eyeshadows by one single brand so it’s difficult to say. However, I do love my Naked 3 palette so I would have to go with Urban Decay.

5. What is your favourite finish?
My favourite finish would probably be shimmery! I love my matte shadows but I often gravitate towards one shadow looks on an everyday basis particularly for uni so if I could only use one eyeshadow, I always want something that has a touch of glam to it!

6. What is the last eye shadow you bought?
It was an eyeshadow stick by Missha that I ordered off eBay.

7. How many eye products do you currently have in your bag?
None! I very rarely carry makeup around with me except for a tinted lip gloss balm.

8. What eye shadows do you use to rock a smoky eye?
I’m a huge fan of brown smoky eyes! I like to use warm brown toned shades but I always switch them around and play with different palettes when I do a smoky eye.

9. How do you store your eye shadows?
I have them all stored in a drawer in my drawer unit and they’re kind of a huge mess right now. =P I know where everything is though so if I’m looking for something in particular, I know exactly where I’ll find it.

10. What eye products are you currently lusting over?
I want an eyeshadow quad from Charlotte Tilbury!

I tag Amelia, Chanteru and Tezzy!

Beginner Makeup Series: Brows

Part 2 | B R O W S

Everyone has been obsessed with having brows that are on fleek and it has been all the rave, we see it being talked about everywhere! Today I’m going to share some tips on how to achieve great looking brows and I hope they will help you out if you needed some advice on where to get started. =)

♡ For those of you who have dark hair, choose a shade that is two to three times lighter and for those of you who have lighter hair, choose a shade two to three times darker!

♡ Always choose a matte shade for a natural everyday look, especially if you decide to use an eyeshadow as a brow colour.

♡ Pencil – Using a pencil can be a little tricky because it’s easy to press on it too hard and end up with dark, harsh or unnatural eyebrows. It is better for a brow pencil to not be too soft because it means that you have better precision in drawing in very fine lines that mimic the appearance of an actual brow hair.

♡ Powder – In my opinion, using a powder is the most safe and the easiest form to work with because it looks very natural and it is easy to clean up or soften down. Even a matte eyeshadow could work perfectly as a brow powder!

♡ Pomade – After Anastasia Beverly Hills released their brow pomade, it has become the most popular choice of brow product to use. I personally have not used one of this form before but by generalising all the thoughts and opinions I have heard or been told of, it is convenient and fast to use! However, it is also important to be light handed so that your brows look natural.

♡ Gel – I love using tinted brow gels because they pull the entire look together and hold all your work down in place. Those that contain fibres are great to use on their own and make it effortless to have perfect brows when you’re in a rush for time. Otherwise, clear brow gels are still a great investment because they make your brows last all day and also prevents them from moving around.

♡ Angled brush – An angled brush is the easiest to work with in combination with a brow powder. It just makes it so fast to fill in any sparse areas and it is also perfect for getting the perfect arch. I like to use the Sigma brush from the kit!

♡ Spoolie brush – A spoolie is great for brushing your brow hairs in place. I like to use one before and after doing my brows so that I know that there are no hairs that are out of place or not in the right direction.

♡ Tweezers – I rely so much on my tweezers to remove any stray hairs that grow and to make my brows a lot more neat and tidy. It is a necessity to quickly groom your brows at home in under a minute without having to go to a salon or specialist to get them done for you!

I hope you guys enjoyed this part of the series and learnt a thing or two! The next one will be on EYESHADOW.

Beginner Makeup Series: Cheeks

Part 2 | C H E E K S

Hello everyone! This is the second part of my beginner makeup series and today’s topic is on the cheeks so I’ll be covering blush, bronzer and highlighter! Cheek products are a lot more easier to work with than foundation in my opinion, which was the previous topic of this series and you can check it out here if you haven’t already!

♡ Blush – There isn’t really a rule when it comes to picking out a blush shade for your skin tone but if a shade is too light or too dark, you can simply just try either layering the product or dipping into the product very lightly to sheer out the pigmentation! However, once again with blush, I personally believe you should choose a shade that you think looks the most flattering on you! For those of you who prefer a very natural look, a good tip that I’ve come across is be to choose the shade closest to the colour of your cheeks after exercise!

♡ Bronzer – It’s really personal preference depending on whether you want a more yellow-toned or red-toned bronzer as to whether you want to add warmth to your face or achieve that holiday glow look to your skin. To be safe, choosing a shade two to three shades darker than your skin tone would be most appropriate because it will look the most natural and you could always add more product as desired!

♡ Highlighter – A general rule of thumb with highlighters is to choose one that has the same undertone as your skin. In other words, if you have warm skin then pick a golden shade and if you have cooler skin then choose a highlighter with a pink undertone. However, this definitely isn’t a rule that can’t be broken but it is just a guide for if you’re unsure about what sort of shades you should start out with!

♡ If you have oily skin, definitely stick to powder products because they will last a lot longer throughout the day. If you do choose to use cream products, then definitely set them with a powder so that they don’t come off easily! Cream products work best on dry skin and are also great for a more natural look because they look a lot more like skin.

♡ If you have acne prone skin then steer away from any cheek products with shimmer or glitter because they will definitely enhance it! Matte products would be the most suitable for those of you who do have blemishes on your cheeks.

♡ Blush – I’m sure that everyone knows the trick of smiling to find the apples of your cheeks! This is the easier way to find the balls of your cheeks. Don’t bring the blush too close to your nose or it will end up looking odd.

♡ Bronzer – It should be applied in areas your face has natural shadows or depth. Another well-known trick to applying bronzer is to suck in your cheeks to form a ‘fishy-face’ and this will help you find the hollows of your cheeks. Applying it along your jawline, over your temples and across your forehead near your hairline will pull the entire look together.

♡ Highlighter – On all the highest points of your face, most commonly across the top of the cheekbones, along the bridge of the nose, cupid’s bow (above the lip) and a small amount on the chin!

I hope you all liked this part as much as the first one! I’m looking forward to posting more to the series and I hope you are just as excited as I am! =)

Beginner Makeup Series: Foundation

Part 1 | F O U N D A T I O N

Hello everyone and welcome to my first ever series on my blog! =) I thought it would be a great idea to do a series on beginner makeup to help those of you who are maybe new to makeup or are just looking for more tips and tricks. Today I’ll be starting off with foundation as the first instalment of face makeup and then I’ll be working my way through cheeks, eyes and lips!

Foundation is definitely something that most people do not get right at the very beginning without the help of someone else, myself included, so I thought it would the best to begin with! There are so many different factors to take into consideration when picking out a foundation so I’ll be sharing different pieces of advice on how to pick the perfect one for you.

This is the first thing that people will look for when selecting a foundation because it’s so important to pick one that is the right shade for you. Everyone’s skin tone varies throughout the body so it can be quite difficult to work out what shade will work best for you especially when you are under artificial lighting, which can change the look of your natural tone!

♡ Work out your underlying skin tone. A good way to test this is to look at your veins on your wrist! If they have a blue hue to them, your skin has a cool undertone so it will be more on the pinker side. If they are green, then you have a warm undertone and you will have more yellow or olive pigments in your skin. If it is in between then you have a neutral undertone, where you don’t lean more on one side but you’re just in the middle. It’s not enough to get the right darkness in a foundation but to pick up one with the right undertone so that it will match you perfectly!

Another important factor to look into is your skin type! Do you have dry, oily or combination skin? Do you prefer a matte or dewy finish? Do you have acne or breakouts? Do you have aging skin? All of these questions are really important to take note of when picking out a new foundation.

♡ If you have oily skin, go for a foundation that has a more matte finish to it so that it will keep oil and sebum at bay throughout the day. If you have drier skin, go for a more dewy or moisturising foundation so that it will not pick up any dry spots on your face!

♡ If you have acne prone skin then you would definitely be eyeing a foundation with fuller coverage. If your skin is more on the clear side, opt for something that has light to medium coverage. However, also remember that foundations are buildable so even if you do have acne prone skin, there is always concealer that you can use to cover up any blemishes that your foundation doesn’t!

♡ Always use a tester or sample! Most of the time, your hands are not the same colour as your face so definitely test out a foundation on your jawline to find the perfect match. A sample would be the most ideal because you will not be in contact with any germs or bacteria build up in a tester bottle, and you will also be able to take a proper look at the foundation under natural lighting at home.

♡ Sometimes a foundation works well with a particular brush and doesn’t work well with another so definitely give different application techniques a try before you completely mark one off your list.

I hope you all liked the first part of my new series! I will be progressively uploading these as my schedule allows so I hope you look forward to them. I’d love to know your feedback and whether you agree with the tips I’ve shared too! If you have anything to add, I’d love to know and I’ll definitely update my post to give you credit! I think it would be amazing to expand these posts so that they will be helpful for everyone. =)

May Wishlist ✮

Hi everyone! Mother’s Day was yesterday for me but I know that it’s today for a lot of you so I’m wishing all of you and your mother a lovely Mother’s Day!

Today I’m going to do a post on a few of the items I’m eyeing for this month! I rarely ever end up purchasing the items in my wishlist LOL but I still find it so fun to put these kind of posts together nevertheless! =P

① L a n e  C r a w f o r d  ‘ M a t i l d e ‘  C r i s s c r o s s  S t r a p  S u e d e  P u m p s

I’m in love with how classy these shoes look! I feel like they would be appropriate for so many different purposes and occasions, plus they would suit so many different outfits too!

② N A R S  I t a  B r u s h

I really want to get more into contouring and I have heard so many great things about this brush. I feel as though it’d make contouring so much more easier and faster to do! The only thing is how ridiculously expensive it is! =(

③ T h e  B a l m  M a r y – L o u  M a n i z e r

Another product that gets talked about so so much! I have been using the same highlighter for the longest time and I feel like now is the time to try something new! I have literally not heard anything bad about this highlighter, everyone seems to be in love with it! It’s definitely one that I am going to look into next!

④ K a t e  S p a d e  C l a s s i c  N y l o n  D a v e n e y  L a p t o p  B a g

It’s always a struggle for me to try and find cute bags that can fit my laptop! My backpack is starting to get a little too small for me and I’m having issues with the zipper when I’m carrying a bit too much. I think this bag will be absolutely perfect because it has a special compartment just for your laptop, with more room to spare for other essential items! =)

I hope you liked my wishlist for this month! I find putting together wishlists so much fun to do even if I don’t end up purchasing the items! =P What are you hoping to pick up this month?

♡ Haul: eBay Korean Makeup!

I made another eBay purchase for Korean makeup about a month ago because I wanted to get backups of my all time favourite BB cream! Of course I couldn’t just leave it at that so I ended up buying a few other products that I had been meaning to try or just interested me as I was browsing! =) Being the lip product junkie that I am, I picked up several different kinds and I’m really excited to try them out. I also came across two eye products that I’m just as excited to see how they work out on me!

These are the products I ended up picking up:

M i s s h a  M  P e r f e c t  C o v e r  B B  C r e a m

There really isn’t anything else I can say about this BB cream! It’s become a beauty staple of mine and I have been using it absolutely every single day. I’ve already done a full review of it before, so if you’d like to check it out then click here! =) I decided to purchase it in a pack of two because it was cheaper than buying them singularly!

A r i t a u m n  S t y l e p o p  P u d d i n g  T i n t

I’ve always been curious about Benetint’s Lollitint but considering that it’s around $50 here, I definitely couldn’t bring myself to pick it up! Instead, I saw this while I was looking through eBay and I immediately wanted to pick it up because of how comparable it looked and because it was a fraction of the price at $10! From what I can see, the colour does look quite similar so I’m excited to test it out to see how well it stains! The particular shade I picked up is in ‘#04 Lollipop’!

E t u d e  H o u s e  C o l o r  I n  L i q u i d  L i p s

As soon as I saw the promo of these, I knew I just had to give it a try. The number of shades available drew me in but I decided on ‘BE102’ because I don’t own many neutral shades and I wanted to pick up a more nude lipstick (even though after swatching it, I realised it’s still very much a pinky mauve shade =P)! Also, judging by the promo pictures, these lipsticks appear to have incredible pigmentation so I’m curious to see how it wears!

T o n y M o l y  K i s s  L o v e r  L i p  M a s t e r

I picked this up in the shade ‘#1 First Kiss’ and I was curious about it because I read some great reviews on it, and also because I wanted to give Tony Moly another chance on their lip products! If you have followed me for awhile, you may remember when I tried out one of their watery lip tints and I had really bad results with it! I’m hoping that this will give me a more positive impression on their lip products. =) The colour itself looks a bit like a coral red, which wasn’t what I was expecting, but I will need to swatch it again to be sure!

P e r i  P e r a  L u m i  P a n g

Going along with the more purple/lavender lip phase that I’ve been trying to get into, I decided to pick this lip tint up! This is in the shade ‘PP06’. The colour immediately interested me when I came across this lip product because it looked so beautiful in the promo picture! I’m really hoping that it will be long lasting so that I don’t need to reapply throughout the day.

M i s s h a  T h e  S t y l e  A l l  D a y  S t i c k  E y e s

Hehe finally onto the eye products! It’s been awhile since I’ve purchased new eye makeup, I have been buying so many lip products! I really need to go on a makeup no buy because it’s becoming a huge problem. =( Anyway, for everyday, I don’t like to mess around too much with eyeshadow because I want to be able to get ready quickly before going to uni! The only time I really create a more full eye makeup look is during the weekend. I picked this up in the shade ‘#2 Beige & Chocolate’ because I felt as though it had colours that I would wear everyday! Having two colours in the one product will make it really convenient to do my eye makeup in a short amount of time. I’m really hoping it does last all day on me!

B B I A  P i g m e n t

I’ve never heard of this brand before but these just looked so pretty when I came across them! There were so many different colours to choose from and it really did take me a long time to decide on one. I ended up picking up the shade called ‘#07 Moonlight’. It is a jewel glitter pigment so it would be absolutely perfect for parties and night outs. I don’t own any larger eye glitters so I’m really keen to try this out!

As always, I will be testing these products out and then doing full reviews on each of them! I hope you will look out for them! If you’ve tried any of these products out before, do let me know how they worked on you! ♡

April Beauty Favourites ♡

It’s already May! This is so insane. April was a busy month for me with university so I wasn’t able to upload daily like I used to but I really appreciate all of your understanding and support! =) I definitely needed as much luck as I could from you guys! It will be less intense now that mid semester exams are over and most of my assignments are finished so I’m extremely happy that I will be able to blog a lot more until finals roll around in June!

T o o  F a c e d  B u l l e t p r o o f  2 4  H o u r  S h a d o w  L i n e r  ( M i n k )

I was extremely excited to use this when I first purchased it but it got hidden underneath my other makeup and I completely forgot about it! I managed to find it again and I’m so happy I did because I have been using it so often. =) It’s a gorgeous shimmery golden brown and I like to use it everyday on its own because it’s quick and easy to apply. It also has great lasting power, although by the end of the day there is some slight creasing because of my oily eyelids. I have since replaced my Maybelline tattoo cream eyeshadow with this for a change and I’ve been loving it a lot! I don’t use the smudger side of the stick because I find it to be not forgiving at all and is extremely tough so I just use my fingers to blend around the edges.

Y S L  R o u g e  V o l u p t e  L i p s t i c k s

If you saw my haul, you would’ve seen these lipsticks! Ever since I got them, I have been using them constantly. They are just all round amazing lipsticks from the packaging to the pigmentation and the range of colours available. Although they are definitely very expensive, they are a great investment if you’re looking to splurge on a high end lipstick!

A n a s t a s i a  B e v e r l y  H i l l s  B r o w  P o w d e r  D u o

I recently decided to lighten my brows again with bleach so that they would look less harsh but because it can sometimes look non-existent or yellow under certain lighting, I have been filling them in a lot more. I use the duo in the shade ‘Medium Brown’ and I like to use both shades on an angled brush to add both some colour and definition back into my brows. I first use the lighter shade to fill in any gaps and lightly define my entire brow first before I use the darker shade on the outer half. The end result is always very natural looking and lasts all day!

S h e e t  M a s k s

I have to be honest and say that I had been slacking off on doing weekly facial masks but after receiving April’s Mask Maven bag (Review), it reminded me to get back onto using them again! Sheet masks in general are amazing because they are so convenient to put on whenever you have spare time throughout the day and there are just so many to try out. My skin always looks more cleaner, brighter and feels more smooth after using sheet masks.

Let me know if you have tried any of these products before and if you’ve had a great experience with them or not! =) I hope you all have a great month! ♡

♡ Very Mini Haul: YSL Lipsticks!

When my parents went overseas a few weeks ago, I told them that I wanted some YSL lipsticks because I’ve always been a huge fan of them but considering that they are almost double the price here in Australia, I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for them to pick some up while they were overseas! Originally they asked if I wanted the YSL Rouge Pur Glossy Lip Stain trio that is sold in Duty Free Airlines exclusively but because you don’t get to pick the colours, they decided to purchase these lipsticks individually! =)

The packaging of the lipsticks themselves is just absolutely gorgeous. It looks luxurious because of the gold casing and I love the detailing in the middle. It has got to be one of my most favourite packagings ever! The shades I got seem the same in the tube but they are very, very different as you can see in the swatches!

R o u g e  V o l u p t e  S h i n e  ( 8  P i n k  I n  C o n f i d e n c e )

The first lipstick is in the ‘shine’ formulation so it is a lot sheerer and has a beautiful glossy finish to it. It feels really moisturising on the lips and the colour looks very natural on me. =) It’s the kind of shade that I would classify as a natural my lips but better. It’s an easy colour to wear for everyday and it pairs well with absolutely any eye makeup. It doesn’t last all day but it is easy to reapply!

R o u g e  V o l u p t e  S i l k y – S e n s u a l  R a d i a n t  ( 9  R o s e  C a r e s s e )

The second lipstick has the standard creamy formulation and it has amazing pigmentation. I love using this shade as a stain for everyday wear and only a little bit of product is needed to achieve a soft look. I like to apply it to the centre of my lips then use a lip brush to blend it out. The texture is so buttery and is completely comfortable to wear. The colour is so flattering and I find myself reaching for it a lot when I want a pop of colour on the lips, but it isn’t too out there at the same time!

Overall, I am beyond pleased with these lipsticks and I have been using them so much. In the future, I will do FOTDs so you can see how they look on my lips but the swatches are very true to colour! I would love to know if you have tried YSL lipsticks before and which ones are your favourite! ♡

Review: Missha Jewel Star Eyes in 05 Pecan Pie & 06 Lovely Chocolate

I have been absolutely loving cream eyeshadows lately and I thought I would do a review on these ones by Missha! =) The packaging is quite standard. They come in a glass container with a black screw top lip. Each come with 25 grams of product, which is a large amount considering how little is needed to achieve great pigmentation. The texture is quite interesting, they’re quite hard but are soft to the touch at the same time. They do not feel creamy at all though!

Left: 05 Pecan Pie; Right: 06 Lovely Chocolate

Both of the shades swatch beautifully and are highly pigmented. They also both have a significant amount of glitter in them so if you don’t enjoy glittery eyeshadows then these would not be for you! Pecan Pie is a medium golden brown with gold glitter and Lovely Chocolate is a deep chocolate with silver glitter.

Applied 06 Lovely Chocolate all over the lids as a simple one eyeshadow look

Lovely Chocolate applies really evenly and easily. I just use my fingers to apply these! The colour is buildable and layers really well. However, I find that Pecan Pie just leaves glitter on the eyelids. It doesn’t appear on your eyes as it does in the hand swatch. It is still pretty (considering I do like glitter) but I know that it is a shade a lot of people would be disappointed with. They also do not last the entire day but this might be because I have oily lids so it’s difficult to come across products that don’t crease on me without a primer!

Overall, these can be a hit or miss in terms of performance. I haven’t tried the other shades but considering that the two I have perform quite differently, I can only assume that the other shades would be inconsistent as well. I will continue to use these as a base because they do work well for that purpose! However, they do not last all day by themselves. If you do have drier eyelids then I do not think you will have an issue with these. =)

♡ Great colour payoff

♡ Large amount of product

♡ Works great as an eyeshadow base

♡ Does not last all day

♡ Application of colours inconsistent

Review: Rimmel Apocalips in Nova

Today I will be reviewing Rimmel Apocalips in the shade Nova! According to Rimmel, they are supposed to be “intense rich colour of a lipstick, enhanced by a satin smooth shine“. I own a more brighter shade from the range but it’s a colour I don’t reach for often because it is a little too intense so I wanted to try out a more wearable shade. I really dislike the scent of this, it has the classic strong lipstick smell to it! It doesn’t linger all day though so I’m able to deal with it. =)

Left: Bare lips; Right: Regular application

The colour is actually a tad bit brighter than it is coming off across in the photos. I personally find it to be a really wearable medium pink shade! It’s definitely not a ‘natural’ shade like it appears in the picture but it is a great colour to wear for everyday if you enjoy wearing pink on your lips. =) I find that it accentuates any patchiness on the lips so you do have to make sure your lips are smooth and exfoliated before applying it.

The wear time on this is quite good! The glossiness fades and it leaves a nice light stain on the lips. I can only imagine how great the stain will be with the darker shades! However, the issue I have is that because the glossiness wears off, any dry patches get accentuated even more! Because of this, it does feel uncomfortable and drying after a few hours.

♡ Fantastic pigmentation

♡ Great colour range

♡ Affordable price

♡ Great as a stain

♡ Accentuates dry and flaky lips

♡ Application can be a bit messy

♡ Scent isn’t good