My Good and Bad Buys of the Week #1

This week I have done bit of a collective haul from several places, not all of them good.


Maybelline Colour Whisper

Yep, it is just as good as the others. The colour sort of reminds me of when you wear a red lipstick and then you wipe it off and it has stained your lips, which I love the look of. I wore this to a music night with a purple liner and thick eyelashes and it just looked super vamp; it was great. This isn't an effort to match with other colours, it is just an easy product to work with. 

45 Who Wore It Red-er
 (I am not wearing any other makeup in
this picture - sorry not sorry)

★★★ Three out of Five Stars 

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub

I am a bit late to jump on this wagon but oh my golly gosh!

This smells absolutely amazing, it's lime with crushed brown sugar, almond oil and macadamia grains. I cannot get over how good this smells. It is difficult to come across Soap and Glory in Australia, the only place I know of that sells Soap and Glory is Kit Cosmetics. My closest counter is an hour bus ride into the City to get to Myers so naturally I don't get to experience these things on hand very often. I do most my makeup shopping online so I was a little cynical about it at first, I had read lots of reviews and always thought there was a bit of exaggeration in the description of how good this is. But it's not an exaggeration, this is the best smelling product I have ever come across, and that includes all the Body Shop products. It was slightly awkward to use, I feel that I have to use quite a bit to get as it doesn't really foam up or spread well. 

http://www.kitcosmetics.com.au/products/soapglory/sugarcrushbodyscrub/ 

★★★★ Four out of Five Stars

Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer 001

My first impression of this primer was pretty good, it made my skin super smooth with a lovely matte finish, I also found it very moisturising. I used this first for a 3 hour music night, which I mentioned previously and it made my foundation (Rimmel Wake Me Up and Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation) look rather nice. However it doesn't prolong the wear of my foundation, in fact I would say it might even shorten the life of my foundation. I would maybe use this again for a short date or going out for dinner, but for school or work life I would turn to other products. I was rather disappointed because I have heard such good things about the Revlon PhotoReady Foundation and I love the translucent powder from the same range, but this is just a bit of a fail for Revlon.

I will add that I like the packaging, the pump is very handy feature, I apply it with a small sponge so it is easy to get the right amount. It's a little too big for my drawer where I keep all my makeup- but that isn't something I can really complain about as that isn't Revlon's fault. 

★ One out of Five Stars 

Maybelline Colour Tattoo - 60 Silver Strike

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr Metal - 60 Silver Strike 

After I saw the makeup look of the Prada Summer/Spring 2011 with the super metallic eyes I set out to find a high shimmer, ultimate metallic eye colour- and this is what I found. 

 

Prada S/S 2011 

I love this eye colour, it can be used as a base however I use it as an all over. I occasionally pair it with my Urban Decay Virgin or Sin, or my Sleek Palette iStorm (The shadows don't have individual names, so either the pale gold or the pink champagne colour.) I apply it with a flat brush so I can really build on it, a heavy black liner is great too, as it adds a little bit of grunge. It really lasts all day and it is super waterproof - which makes it slightly difficult to remove. I am so keen to try other colours such as Too Cool, Bad to the Bronze, Pomegranate Punk, Painted Purple and Edgey Emerald... I basically want all of them.

The Formula is very thick. The Maybelline website describes it as a cream gel, however I do not find this gel like at all, I would describe it as a thick smooth cream? The shimmer quality is super high as well, it is definitely the shimmeriest eye product I own. I really do recommend these I just find them so so great, they are suitable for every occasion, you can wear it really light for a natural day wear, have it as a base for a more formal look or pile it on for going out at night.

My Top 3 Nail Polishes for August

First of all I live in Australia so August is basically the beginning of Spring, so it's cold some days and Sunny the next. So I found these three nail polishes can interchange quite nicely with the weather. 

Rimmel 620 How do you lilac?

This colour is super pretty. It goes really well with fair skin, I introduced my friend to it as she doesn't wear a lot of nail polishes so bright bold colours can be confronting and this was subtle and was great casually and looked nice when dressed up. I have been loving fair pastel colours this winter and this was great to slowly make my way into brighter spring colours. The 60 second drying time was also a relief!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 420 Pacific Blue

I was watching a lot of the well known blogger Zoella and she had a gorgeous blue colour on her nails, I am pretty sure it was an Essie nail polish. As we do not have Essie in Australia (We really should because they are great) I was searching up and down for a similar colour and I came across the Sally Hasen Xtreme Wear Range. This colour is great it looks super pretty with baby pink lips and contrasts really well with bright red lips. I also feel it makes my nails look like blue M&M's or little jewels, it is so pretty, I highly recommend and I feel it would be great for summer too!

Revlon Colour Stay 060 Café

Now I am not a huge fan of Revlon nail polishes, simply because their formula is not fantastic. It goes on streaky and takes forevvveeerr to dry, but this colour is just too perfect to care!

I have been looking for a perfect pink nail polish for ages and I had clocked this a while ago in my chemist warehouse but refused to buy it from past Revlon nail polish disasters. But I grew more and more desperate and gave in. The colour is just so gorgeous and looks so dainty, it compliments my skin colour really well, it is just super feminine. As usual I go crazy when applying because it takes forever, my base coat and top coat just do not work with it, (I use manicare beginning to end) it just peels right off and smudges, it's not a pretty sight.

Revlon Colour Burst - 018 Fire Review

Before I begin, I am sorry about the leftover sticky stuff in the picture! It has been driving me mad, I think I'll post a tutorial on how to remove this off of products.

I think these are so full of pigment! The colour is amazing, it really is a true colour burst. However the life of these lip glosses are not long at all. I feel that I have to re-apply every five minutes because they just do not stay on your lips. I found this really surprising as Revlon lip product formulas are usually the best on the drug store market. Revlon please pick up your game, you are disappointing me in the world of lipgloss. I own many Revlon lip products and I am usually first to recommend them to anyone but these Colour burst lip glosses are not recommended. If you have the patience and time go right ahead, because they are incredibly beautiful, high shine (They are so freaking shiny) and so bright.

My Favourite Skin Care Products

Australian Bentonite Clay

This is a health clay, I use it as a face mask but it can also be drunk to help the digestive system. I was originally told about this through my Mum's friend; who gives it to her son due to digestive problems... I think. Although this looks pretty gross, it's a greyish green powder that you mix with water. It ends up looking like polluted water with lumps in it. When I first prepared it, I thought "this is disgusting, how is this poo like product going to help my skin."

But oh my golly gosh

This is by far the best working clay face mask I have ever come across. I have really oily skin, so I have been searching for a good oil control mask for a long time. It works really quickly, you can feel it drying on your skin which is a strange sensation. It really drys your skin out as well, so I would recommend moisturising more than usual afterwards. Whenever I use it my skin is just soo much brighter and my pores are reduced by almost 50% the size... I have pretty big pores too. You only use a little bit of it, the one in the picture is 1KG which will probably last me at least a year and a half, if not two. 

It is really good for your money too, the one in the link below is only AUS$34.50

http://healingclay.com.au/edible-bentonite-clay-1kg-jar.html

Nivea Gentle Exfoliating Scrub.

I was just working my way through all the scrubs sold at my local supermarket and this was the one that stood out to me. I like using this during the morning because it is just really fresh and leaves my skin looking awake. I feel that the actual scrub, like the grains? are evenly spread and really work at your skin leaving it soft and smooth. It helps me with my blackheads, because they are so hard to get rid of. I would recommend this product to you if you want something simple to use daily for a good price. 

Simple Moisturising Facial Wash 

In the next few products you are about to realise how much I love simple products.

This face wash is super gentle on your skin. My sister uses this because her skin is super sensitive. This makes my skin fresh, brighter and I feel it rids my skin of skin toxins from other products, like if I use a heavy foundation or thick concealer, it just cleans out my skin; letting it breath again, without being harsh.

LtoR my toner, moisturiser and cleanser

Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion

This is super moisturising, you could even replace your moisturiser with this -I wouldn't recommend that though- I apply this using a cotton pad and I just rub it on my face, basically. Before I was using this my skin was quite dull. I have plenty of sun damage i.e freckles, which can make it very difficult to have clear looking skin (comment if you have the same problem.) This product, however, just cleared and purified every other aspect  of my skin to the T (because it can't fix sun damage) so now that everything else is just so much healthier looking my skin looks great!! 

Simple Soothing Facial Toner

First of all, sorry about the huge barcode on the side of the bottle! 

I apply this the same way I do with my cleaner, but just be wary when putting it on the cotton pad as it comes out very quickly. This just finishes off my skin perfectly, it's like applying the topcoat on nail polish, it just keeps everything clean and sorted. it just makes your skin ready for the day or night and keeps it looking fresh through out. It has fantastic oil control and stops shine through out the day. Since using this, I haven't felt the need to use my Urban Decay Oil Slick Spray (which is fab by the way, I highly recommend buying a bottle.) This product also helps my blackhead/pore problem, which I mentioned earlier.

Olay Moisuriser SPF 30+

I have very fair skin as well and seeing as I live in Australia which is basically the same temperature as the sun half the year, I need a lot of SPF. Olay has really good mattifying qualities and for a product with SPF 30+ that is pretty impressive. So often have I used high SPF products and they leave a greasy shine, it's gross. But this one doesn't and I recommend it for anyone with shiny skin, who spends a lot of time in the sun or if you have long days where your skin can get a bit worn by the end.

My New Favourite Mascara

This is by far my new favourite mascara, when I wear it I constantly get asked if I am wearing false eyelashes. This is Maybelline's first gel mascara, it is very wet when applying and takes a while to dry, so naturally I get it everywhere when I use it. It adds a whole lot of volume and lengthens them quite a bit. Personally I don't like how much length it adds as I already have very long eyelashes, so when I apply I sort of wriggle it on my lashes instead of using a stroking method; otherwise I just look freaky. If you have short/normal length eyelashes I highly recommend it. It was a pretty good price as well, I got it for AUS$15.



The wand is very large and has more bristles than usual which is very smart on Maybelline's behalf, because I think the bigger the wand the better.

The Maybelline Colour Whispers

The Maybelline Colour Whispers

These were recently added to my local chemist warehouse and I was actually the first one to get my hands on them. I had heard loads about them from other blogs and such and I was very keen to try them. I was meaning to buy a new pink lip product so I got both of the pink shades (Pink Possibilities and Pink Petal.)
Firstly I feel that I should state if you are looking for something purely for moisturising e.g vaseline, I wouldn't get these, they more more for the look rather than the purpose, in the long term they wouldn't help your lips, these are more for things like quick relief.
HOWEVER, I do find these full of moisturising qualities and the pigment is sooo pretty. They also tasted a lot like my Body Shop Hemp Lipbalm, which is pretty unusual. The wear isn't too long, however that didn't really bother me as applying them feels really nice because they go on so smoothly. I am keen to try the other colours and I would recommend them to other people. They are great for school since they are natural looking and fit easily in a pencil case or purse. These too colours are quite similar, Petal Rebel is slightly lighter and brighter.