Colours Ahoy! The Sleek Sweet Cheeks Trio

 This was on my wishlist awhile ago and needless to say, I cracked.  This was the first Sleek palette that ever caught my eye and with its friendly pricetag (US pricing for us Aussies, win!) and surprisingly cheap shipping, I was seriously worried it would sell out! It is still available here on the website so yay for anyone still lemming after it.

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The Natural Make-Up Staples

When it comes to make-up, my feet are in both the green and the mainstream beauty world. But I've found that the more regular I use a product, the more likely I'd want to go "natural" with it. This may not be the greatest logic, but it's one I'm going with at this stage of my make-up life (work with me people!).

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Make Me Over! the MECCA Beauty Election Lesson Experience

A few weeks ago I went to my first "make-over" at Mecca Cosmetica, what is probably my favourite beauty hangout. And I came home quite happy - surprise! Often these department-esque makeovers are bad news, with the likely possibility of coming home with a new face but luckily I have good words to share about my experience and I highly recommend the one at Mecca!

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june faves: winter lovin'

While this post is 9 days into the not-so-new month, in my defence the pictures were taken on the 1st ;) This month saw some fun new discoveries with some amazing skin saviours for my once neglected skin.

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The Overnight Beauty Bag!

I have a hens night tomorrow (really? it's that time already!?) and one of the things that is exciting me the most is the packing side, sad. Edits and makeup bag picks are amongst my favourite posts to read and so here are my picks for the girls' night out shenanigans..

First up is the makeup and many of the choices are geared towards plans for a smokey eye, a solid night out choice. I'm undecided as to whether I'm going towards neutral dark browns or cool tones so I'm bringing both the MUA Undressed palette and a MAC quad with satin taupe, smut, carbon and omega for blending out the edges. I'm loving the Undressed palette more than I thought I would and am so tempted to get the real deal, which is of course, the UD Naked Palette. To accompany the shadows I've really grown to love the UD Glide on Pencil in Perversion which clings onto the waterline rather well, and of course a mascara is essential and I'm taking a new bird, the Modelco Fibre LashXtend (a GWP with this month's Instyle magazine, run!). While it is not dramatic, it does not smudge (win) and gives soft, defined lashes though more testing required to give a proper verdict. Keeping everything else neutral I'm taking MAC Gingerly Blush which just goes with everything, and my trusty staples the JK Dewy Glow, Everyday Minerals shadow in My Place for the brows and the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation, a fool-proof foundation choice.

Taking a downsized version of my usual skincare routine, I'm just going to take some essentials as I'm trying to be realistic (and to not scare my friends with my real skincare routine, ha!). To take the makeup off I'm still going to take my jojoba oil as I just trust it more than a wipe, and some cotton bud tips to help remove the eye makeup residue. Taking off the makeup is the most important thing so I'm also going to take the Alba Coconut Milk wash for a second clean for the morning wash. For moisture I'm entrusting the Cupcake Organics Day Cream which is thick enough to do double duty for night and day. Samples are a godsend and so coming along are Balance Me's Eye Wonder Cream and the Radiance Oil. Not sure if I'll use the latter but you know, just in case. Of course there is the next day to think of and an SPF is needed, and so the Green People SPF 25 Face Lotion is hopping along for the ride.

And that's it! Ha!

What do you usually take with you overnight? :)

x, mai-anne

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The Search (Continues?): Eye Primers

How exciting, an eye primer collection. This blog just gets better and better. Haha, sarcasm aside, I have indeed been on a hunt for an eye primer that can keep shadows on my eyes for a day's wear (8 hours, just 8 hours please). My eyes aren't oily, they're actually on the dry side, but its their hoodedness that causes shadows to crease very easily. This is even more evident on my right eye which is the more hooded of the pair and shadows just wiggle around more so there. So as quite an eyeshadow lover, I've been on the serious hunt for something that just works, sans parabens, red cosdna.com ingredients  and now also cruelty free (slightly more "rules" as I want to stick to it daily). Here is my current journey, thus far..   

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Playing Chemist: Mixing Bases

As a bit of a foundation lover, I've managed to rack up a few in my stash with some nods and some no-nos. After many trials and errors I've realised that having an odd assortment can mean tailoring your base to your needs that day, with the added bonus of getting more mileage out of something that is tempting to toss. Step in the current four I'm rotating and here is the mood board of base blends I'm loving..

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(A Broke Girl's) Beauty Wishlist

Oh boy, that's a lot of wishing! It always seems like when you're tight with money, you just want everything and when things are okay, nothing looks appealing. Unfortunately I'm at the former stage - it seems like the universe has put all the bills and expenses into June and July so here I am.. making a wishlist, not a shopping list!

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First Beauty Emporium (Mini!) Haul

So a crazy day back in April, Beauty Emporium had a 50% off off on their entire site for 24 hours. Yes, the entire site.  I had never seen a place offer that before and so even miss careful-shopper me placed an order quick smart. It's a UK based website that offers an unusual range of brands with many organic brands such as Trilogy and Priti, to mainstream brands like NYX. I like that it offers harder to find brands and am slightly kicking myself that I didn't pick up more, though this is quite a lot for a very slow shopper like myself. 

The first thing I was all over was Wild About Beauty, a makeup brand that includes lots of natural ingredients mixed in with some chemicals. I find that the ingredients can vary across products so more greenie eyes may scoff. I decided to pick up the Smooth Cover Concealer Kit, which is a duo concealer with a setting powder and the Ultra Dewy Creme Blush in 03 Phoebe, both of which had ingredients lists I was happy with. I'm planning a more in-depth post on these soon as there isn't much written about them.

For skincare, it was a great time to try something high-end on the cheap and a brand I've never heard of and is therefore harder to source. I went for the Sophyto Super Skin Concentrate which was featured in my last pamper post, and Cupcake Organic's Frankincense and Orange Day Cream as frankincense always seems to agree with me. I'm planning on some reviews on these soon too.

I was really impressed with the service from Beauty Emporium, the package came much quicker than expected (roughly a week-1 1/2 weeks) and was nicely wrapped. They also included their shopping bag which made it a more luxe experience, as if I had actually just gone shopping. I shop online mostly so it was nice to feel that way (sad). I definitely recommend this site and definitely sign up to get their offers, as they are clearly very good ones!  Now if only they offered free shipping.. Am I starting to ask for too much?

x mai-anne

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A Makeup Cleansing Routine

Yep, I have a full makeup cleansing routine. My life is rather exciting, yes?

I'm a bit of a skincare nut but I'm even more ruthless with my cleansing routine. I have never gone to bed with makeup on, even before I was bitten with the beauty bug. I think I was always afraid makeup would ruin my skin and I'd wake up to Shar Pei skin (yes I just googled "wrinkly dog").  This routine is the whole hog, when I've worn foundation and eye makeup that day so don't worry, it's not an every day occurrance!

I start first the Earth Science Eye Makeup Remover on a cotton pad, gently patting it on for a few seconds before carefully swiping all the colours away. I try to use just the one cotton pad, not because I'm cheap (well.. not just because I'm cheap) but to create as little waste as possible. This eye makeup remover is a beaut and does really well at cleaning up most of the mess without leaving my lids parched.

    I then follow up with an oil to start taking off my face makeup.  I'm loving jojoba oil at the moment and currently using the one by Desert Essence (I'm not sure if there is a huge difference between brands yet). It's a light-medium oil so it is easy to rub and into the skin. I like to take my time here and massage it into my face and close to the hairline, which can be an easily forgotten place. I also swipe a little onto and around my eyes to break down any remaining eye makeup. I really advise to do this second because I find that jojoba oil is thin enough to slightly touch the eyes and added with makeup - weeell it doesn't feel good! Those with more sensitive peepers may feel the sting, even mine can feel a tinge.

    I then take to water to take off the oil. The jojoba oil doesn't stick to my skin as much as others like coconut oil so it's really easy to rinse off and it leaves it feeling so soft and hydrated. I always double cleanse and my dry skin loves a cream cleanser.  Double cleansing is really important because it cleans deeper and removes any excess oil. I'm currently using the U Little Beauty Cream Cleanser one and while it's doesn't match my all time favourite Sukin Cream Cleanser it is nice and you need very little product to cover your face and neck (oh yeah, did I mention the neck yet? Clean your neck! Especially if you take your foundation down there like me)

    Okay, last step now, I promise! After I've patted my face dry I use a micellar water and a cotton tip to clean any last bits of my eye makeup. Yes, those little crevices hide even more makeup that a general cleanse won't get to. Right now I'm going through the Caudalie Cleansing Water which is okay, but not a favourite. Using the cotton tip I can swipe at my water line and around my lashes to take off the final dregs of makeup - you'd be surprised at how much is still left. I clean until the bud isn't turning black anymore, which isn't too long considering there were three steps before it!

Phew! So there we have it, a 4-step routine to clean off makeup, simples. I know it's a bit hectic but it's worth it and I really enjoy my skincare and I hope you do too. It's funny, I use to hate skincare but now I see it as a moment to take care of yourself and relax..

How do you go about your makeup removal ways? Don't tell me you fall asleep with it on!

x mai-anne

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march beauty faves!

March Favourites, a third way into April! 

Green Loves (+Hygiene!?)

My eye makeup removal has been made a lot easier because of the Earth Science Eye Makeup Remover. It has a cool gel texture and doesn't leave my eyes overly dry, I'm planning a more in depth post featuring this product so more on this soon! On the same-ish topic, I've been loving using Jojoba Oil to remove makeup and it leaves my skin feeling so soft afterwards. The Plus White 5 Minute Gel has been doing wonders on my teeth and I'm going to soldier on with it until my teeth are good looking before I look for more natural alternatives. And Swiss Super Greens, my new love. I take it with my juice and it feels like a detox but without the nasty effects. Great brand too.

The Make-Up

I've been guiltily loving the MUA Undressed palette, the infamous Urban Decay Naked palette dupe.  I have loved the colours more than I thought I would for quite a warm palette, and the pigmentation isn't half bad. Guilt factor? It does contain parabens, not the absolute worst thing in the world but if it didn't have it, this would be considered near perfect! 

  Cue the crazy collecting lady, my Essence obsession has started. Now I'm not much of a make-up collector per se but with good pricing (big thumbs up for not jacking up their prices in Aus), cruelty free shoutouts and the cute-as-a-button packaging, it is winning big in my books.  I didn't think much of them before as their core collection has the usual petroleum and paraben-laden formulas like most drugstore products, but after examining their collection items I saw nothing of the sort. My inner voice squealed with excitement so home went the Circus Circus Highlighter with me and I adore it. The powder is quite finely milled that it is easy to apply without looking like freckles of glitter here and there and the gold colour is delish. I even like it more than MAC's Soft and Gentle (gasp!). Can't wait for their next collection!

  I've mentioned it so many times before but I wanted to mention Stila's Convertible Color in Gerbera again as I just hit pan on it.  It is a cream product so the bottom is not as easy to see, but I've been loving this colour on my cheeks as the Sydney weather couldn't decide if it was Summer or Autumn in March. The downside to this product is that it only has a 6 month lifespan but I don't know if I can let it go after that date passes..

  Sitting happily on my nails this month has been China Glaze's Mahogany Magic from the Hunger Games collection. While it is indeed a shade of brown (snore) I thought of it as chocolate, and during the sugary season of Easter, why not..

So there goes March and April is finally looking like Autumn, looking forward to it!

What have you been loving lately?

x mai-anne

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Almost There / Mineral Fusion Concealer Duo Review | Blogmas Day 4 (Post #8)

I was super excited to try this concealer when theflaxenowl raved about it as I had been looking for a truly clean, green take on a concealer duo. I love the idea of a duo, palette, so that you can mix the colours to your skintone, problem areas and what not.  

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Coupon Haul! | Blogmas Day One (Post #2)

Coupon / sale times, are the only times I shop in Australia.  It's not that I don't want to support the Aussie economy, but that I hate supporting inflated prices in Australia. Coupon time is the only time I can buy in a store and get as close to the US price as possible. So here are some of the things I picked up a few weeks ago (I had been meaning to post this up earlier *sheepish grin*).

I was debating between MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle or the Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Superb. I've wanted Soft and Gentle for ages and like starting with permanent products first but Superb looked beautiful and unique. Mineralize Skinfinishes retail for $47 in Australia, making it one of the less marked up products (a sad 60% mark up from the US price) and I had a $20 Myer voucher.  I decided to shop on the night of Myer's Christmas event which included a 10% off discount which would make either product a cool $22.30. Win!  After deciding on Superb since it was LE, I was saddened when it was already out of stock when I got there.  I decided to just buy Soft and Gentle instead of hunting Superb down at other retailers.  A sad story, but this is an amazing product nonetheless (and hopefully Superb will be re-promoted, soon!)

Priceline was having a 2 for 1 sale on Revlon lip products which is a deal I don't think I've ever seen.  Coupled with a $5 priceline coupon and $2 left on a Westfield gift card I left with an even better deal.  I picked up 2 lip butters in Tutti Fruity and Peach Parfait (love) and 2 Kissable Lip Balm Stains in Honey and Romantic, which was stupid since I've had Charm on my wishlist and forgot! These were a bit of a junkfood makeup purchase, but I'm still learning what lip colours work with me so I'm going with what I can swatch in real life. Word of warning, the Priceline cashiers will charge you by the top price of the two products, so I got charged for two lip butters, retailing at $22, instead of $22 and $18 (the price of the lipstains) which was what I thought would be the price purchased. *doh!*

I just picked up these two cute candles from Sportsgirl. I thought these were adorable and assumed they were paraffin candles when I picked them up to look at, but to my surprise, these are soy candles! I was so happy and proud that a commerical Australian retailer sold soy candles that I picked up two and almost a third. These were on sale, down from $9.95 to $4.95. I also bought them at a Westfields shopping event, so these were a further 15% off (that was a lucky coincident though!) :D I will never buy paraffin candles, I think it's genuinely dangerous to use them as they can be inhaled - that's the easiest passage to our brain.

here is a blurry pic of the ingredients. you're welcome.

So there you have it! My little cheapass haul! Have you found any bargainous bargains lately? :)

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Everyday Mineral Blushes Review

(shotty camera skills again, my bay-ad!)

I bought a few Everyday Minerals blushes awhile back and now I'm a bit of a fan.  EM was the first mineral brand I ever tried and I'm super impressed with their products, ethos and I also like their cute packaging and branding.  

Two of these blushes were individually bought, 'All Smiles' and 'Nature's Sweet Side' (which was on special for $5 at the time) and the other two, 'Wild Vines' and 'Girl Friday', were from the 'Pink Lady' set, which isn't available anymore but the individual blushes are still up for sale. 

All Smiles is a peachy, orangey pink blush and is a firm favourite of mine.  I'm a bit obsessed with oranges, peachey-pinks and all other things tangerine coloured so I absolutely love this one.  The other three, I like, but to be honest, I can't tell the flippin' difference between them!  Maybe it is my skin, but the shades are minutely different when applied and I've never remembered which one was which.  Since they're so similar, I've given two of them away (to two different people!).

As it was my first foray into mineral makeup I was concerned that they would be hard to work with but it turns out that it pretty simple.  The 'big size' blushes are much easier to work with since they have a tab inside that you can slide so you can easily control how much product you get out. I usually open it a crack and then dunk a small amount of product onto the lid and swirl my brush around.  The smaller ones don't have the same contraption so it's just a matter of being careful with the pots. 

The colours are quite pigmented but not so pigmented that you get to clown level too easily.  If I'm feeling fancy, I take my Ecotools bronzer brush to pack the colours on and a larger powder blush (I like the Real Techniques one) and blend it out.  I would say the blushes aren't quite as easy to blend as traditional pressed powder blushes but you get used to it, and it's not that much harder anyway ;)

Here are heavy swatches, I really wanted to see if there was a significant difference.

Wild Vines, Nature's Sweet Side, Girl Friday, All Smiles

blended out

So as you can see, blended out, the first three blushes are really similar, you definitely don't need all three!  Though similar, the colours are really pretty, soft pinks with a matte finish.  Wild Vines is meant to be have a 'sheen' finish, which I agree when swatched heavily, but when blended it's sheen isn't that noticeable.

These Everyday Mineral blushes are lovely quality, and I love that when I wear them I'm not loading my face with chemicals.  

You can buy straight from their website here, or on iherb as well (do I mention iherb on every post?!).

What do you think of Everyday Minerals? Have you tried much in the way of mineral makeup?

x mai-anne

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Rage Review! Bdellium Tools 10 Piece Studio Line Kit

Can I start a blog post saying that this must be the most disappointing beauty purchase I've ever made?
Yeah? Okay, I will.

This is the most disappointing beauty purchase I've ever made!

Okay I'll settle down now and explain (coherently) why.

I bought this set from iherb (nothing against you iherb) for $58 which seemed like a big-ish price tag, but it was for 10 brushes and from a reputable brand.  I had previously bought the eye brushes from the Bambu mineral line which I loved (and will do a review soon), so I was excited to get this kit.  I had been eyeballing the bunny collection from Sigma for ages, but some (stupid) change of heart made me go for this one.  Out of the 10 brushes in the collection, only 2 are good, quality brushes. 

2! 

The only slight upside was that I was looking forward to these two the most, but still, that rages me!

They are these two..

.. the #957S Precision Cheek and the #955S Finishing Brushes.

These have the quality I was expecting, soft like butter bristles, strong and sturdy bodies and don't shed when I use or wash them.  I love these but they don't make up for the 8 other crap to mediocre brushes. The #957S is great for foundation, and has this really odd 'wet' sensation when you apply foundation which I like and find amusing.  The stippling brush doesn't beat the Real Techniques one but it performs well for a brush in this standard shape.

After the top 2, there are 4 brushes that were.. okay. Sigh.

They are the #964S AP Blusher, #945S Contour, #755S Smudger and the #769S Angled Contour.

The 964S is soft.. ish, and does the job.  The 945S I quite like, because it is soft and performs well but it sheds like balls. It's quite frustrating because I do like this one, but it sheds when washed and when it's being used. The 955S is standard, can you go wrong with a brush like this? It's not soft, but it's sturdy and does what it's asked, it just doesn't stand out like the top two.  The last brush is the 769S, which is a brush included in the bambu eye kit as well.  Not bad, but not the softest, and its bambu version is much softer.  All 4 of these are are prone to shedding as well.  

The last four are just plain crap. Just awful.

They are the #942S Slanted Contour, #781S Crease, #776S Blending and the #765S Small Angle Shader.  

These are awful for the same reasons.  They all do not have soft bristles, they are harsh and I feel like I'm scratching my face/eyes with them. The eye ones are worst because the eyes are such a delicate area that you feel the scratch even more.  I've even tried to condition them a few times now, they've got a bit better but not enough to really feel a difference and still remain scratchy when used.  

Here is a close up of the brushes, I was hoping to capture how dry and tough the bristles are so hopefully you can see what I'm talking about.

These 4 also shed when washed which is something I really hate.  Good brushes shouldn't shed, especially when you wash them for the first time. 8 brushes out of 10 are prone to shedding which really shows the poor make of these. 

On the whole, I'm very disappointed with this kit especially since I did pay $58 dollars for them.  Perhaps I got a dud kit, but if Bdellium Tools can put out dud kits then I would recommend you not to risk it, unless you would like to test them out for yourself. I really love their Bambu eye kit, and hearing that others like it too makes me think that it is either a superior line or there is more of a quality control with those brushes.  There isn't as much information about the Studio Line so I did take a bit of a gamble here, but hopefully it helps you if you're in the market for some brushes.  I do appreciate Bdellium Tools because they are an eco-friendly, cruelty free brand and I'm open to trying more from their Bambu brushes, but honestly, I'm staying far, far away from their Studio Line!

In case you're curious, this is the where I bought these. Link.

Have you tried any Bdellium Tools brushes? :)

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