Poppin' My Nars Cherry (Haul)

So somehow, I went a little cray cray and got 3 little Nars packages in the past week or so. I didn't mean to gather a mini haul, timed offers and finds meant that it happened all at once.. I swear..

Nars is one of those overly raved brands and the makeup noob in me has been wanting to try. It doesn't have the best ingredients so I put it off for awhile, but I appreciate that it is cruelty free (though owned by a larger company, but more thoughts on this topic later) and I'm slowly starting to move towards cruelty free brands and so it made me more keen to try Nars.

After much debate, I finally picked a shade of the Sheer Glow Foundation, deciding on Deauville as winter is coming. I love the finish of this foundation though I do think it largely depends on the skincare beforehand.  The colour is quite neutral one (with slight yellow leanings) and I'm starting to find neutral-yellow undertones suit me well.  A weekend 10% off Nars offer at HqHair.com paved the way for me to finally purchase the powder blush in Luster, which was the blush I have wanted the most from Nars (highly recommend Hqhair now by the way). Such a gorgeous shimmery, light apricot shade that reminds me of autumn leaves. Continuing on the autumn theme, I randomly saw the blush in Mounia on eBay and I thought it was too good an offer to pass up.  I ended up winning it for around $27 which wasn't too bad (and cheaper than US retail anyway :D). I first heard about this blush from MissGlamorazzi and was looking for a plummy blush for autumn. I have worn it once and well, it is beautiful.  It's my first deeper coloured blush and it doesn't dull the skin at all, it does quite the opposite - giving that just-out-from-the-snow flush even on my light-medium skintone. sigh.

Nars is quite funny with their ingredients. The liquid products seem to score well on cosdna.com whilst their powder products are filled with things that may make one a bit queasy - the opposite of most mainstream brands I find! 

What are your top recommendations from Nars? Whilst I'm hoping to not go too crazy I am rather curious.. *slaps hand*

:P mai-anne

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More TM than BB / Stila HD Beauty Balm Review | Blogmas Day 9 (Post #12)

BB Creams have been all the rage for awhile now, and I am definitely a big fan. I used to use various Korean BB creams and love them for their light, non-cakey coverage.  Plus I didn't have to worry about colour matching since it did it for me :D Before buying this product, I was on the look out for a light base on more relaxed days, with good ingredients and without nasties.  This one fit the bill and I was keen to try it!

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Christmas Wish List! | Blogmas Day 2 (Post #3)

What's a blogmas without a Christmas list eh? :D

My family isn't big on Christmas unfortunately (I don't know of many Vietnamese families that are!) but I still love Christmas and give presents anyway. I'm not expecting any of these as gifts but I'm drooling anyway *grins*.

1. Stila Christmas Brush Set 2012
Now I probably have more brushes than makeup (!), well hopefully not but I love brushes! I don't know why, I'm just searching for the perfect brush set and staying cruelty-free. Stila is a cruelty-free brand and whilst these brushes are not synthetic Stila have confirmed that they are cruelty free. I don't own any non-synthetic brushes so this set would be nice. And look how purrty are they!

2. Sportsgirl Frappacino Cup, $14.95
I've been searching for a sippy cup like this! BHA free and with a straw that you can clasp down so that you can travel with these, mess free! I just saw that these are now sold out online so it might be 'merry christmas to me' pretty soon...

3. Sportsgirl Sewing Machine, $29.95
Now I can't sew to save my life but it would be awesome to have a little one to start. I could learn to do basic things and diy my clothes :D

4. Smashbox Limitless 15 Hour Wear Cream Shadow, $19 (Kissandmakeupny.com)
I tested a few colours on my hand the other day, and seriously these just didn't budge after several hand washes! I was so surprised! These colours as gorgeous and I'm lemming after Topaz or Quartz, not sure which one yet. These are also missing many of the nasties I avoid so woop woop.

5. Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask, 22 pounds (what is the apple shortcut for pounds!?)
Another rave by essiebutton, a fellow dry skinner so I really would like to try this! I haven't tried any honey based products before so I am very curious to try this out.

6. Illamasqua Powder Blush Duo in Lover and Hussy, $39
Whilst I don't love Illamasqua's ingredients (hello petroleum and parabens) I love that they put up the good fight and lowered their Australian prices to match their international ones. Whilst they copped some criticism for the way they did it (for creating a "marketing ploy" instead of just lowering them) I congratulate them on doing so and coming clean with why their previous prices and other international brands' prices were and are so inflated in Australia.
On a swatch happy trip to Myer the other day, the colour that drew me in the most was Lover, and 2nd was Hussy. Had I known they would come in a duo I would have snapped it up that day! These colours are beautiful and I may allow myself one junkfood purchase from them.. :D

7. butter LONDON The Glitter Lacquer Trio 1
I love Butter London, though I confess, I only have one polish of theirs (and it was a freebie). I've been lemming for 'The Black Knight' for ages and seeing that it's in a set just makes good sense.

What are you lemming after this Christmas?

x mai-anne

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