Pros:

• Makes a great highlighter
• Very good at reflecting light

Cons:

• Does not function well as a primer
• Creases like crazy
• Very slippery feel

Price: $7.95AU

Rating:

Where: Priceline, K-mart & Big W.

Face of Australia recently released two eye primers as part of their growing collection, a matte and a shimmer primer, they kindly provided the shimmer primer for me to play with.

During my talks with Tina from Face of Australia, she had mentioned to us that this particular primer was better used as a highlighter, rather than a primer. And I completely agree, as a primer this just doesn’t cut it at all. On my lids they felt heavy and my shadow was creasing in under 5 minutes.

Upon taking Tina’s advice though, as a highlighter this would be great for specific looks. If you wanted something with a lot of shine, like if you were going clubbing, to a special dinner etc. Just be careful not to apply too much of this, else it might end up being too heavy as the micro-shimmers are more like a cross between that and glitter. To it’s credit, this product gives of a gorgeous shine if applied to the inner corner of yours eyes and brow bone, it has a very disco feel to it.

I think if FoA were to go back to the drawing board, re-labeling this as a cream glitter highlighter would be a much more accurate description. If you are seeking a primer, give the matte version a go. I haven’t personally tried it on my lids, but I tested it at counters and it is much drier and has a lot more grip, so for $7.95, it would be worth trying out, especially if you can get a discount at Priceline.

So tell me, what’s your favourite eye primer?

Introducing Face of Australia’s latest limited edition nail polish collection called LUXE. These polishes were provided by Face of Australia and I love them! Each bottle is only $4.95AU, great value for money.

I failed to mention last week that as Australian blog myself, each post is actually classified under the Local Luxe series that I have running. But not only is Face of Australia an Australian owned brand and cruelty free, the products are also MADE in Australia. The only other Aussie brand I’ve found that do this are Natio, so if you consider yourself a patriotic Australian, then this fact itself may sway you.

On to the polishes~ All swatches only required 2 coats, no top coat was used. The collection consisted of a distinct rainbow of colours, generally speaking I found the formula easy to work with, didn’t experience much streakiness and they dried relatively fast given I didn’t use any top coat.

Summer Spice

A crème hot red with a slight orange hue to it, this was probably the most pigmented out of the entire collection as I could have swatched this with only one coat, but decided to go with two for sake of consistency (I’m anal like that).

Beauty Queen

Barbie pink crème, it actually appears a little more magenta in real life. It’s a fun holiday / weekend sort of colour.

Lemon Sorbet

A pale yellow colour, like Beauty Queen I’d throw this into the fun pile. Not something to wear to work (assuming you, like me work in an office with a dress code). I’d take this on vacation with me for sure, it certainly has a “by the beach” feel to it.

Cotton Candy

A semi-nude pink / orange shade, possibly the most wearable colour from the collection, along with Foxy Roxy further below.

Minty Mojito

A mint green crème, I’ve seen this colour quite a bit lately from China Glaze and Essie, but having now come across this collection, if you’re keen to have this particular shade then get this one. They are honestly all the same between each brand, except if you live in Australia, this is the cheapest option.

Ocean Villa

A medium royal blue, surprisingly the only polish of the collection with a semi-matte finish. Not sure whether this is the case with all bottles or it was just mine, either way it’s an interesting finish that I quite like (and if you prefer shiny, top coat will fix that right up). Another very pigmented shade, it could almost be done in 1 coat.

Private Jet

A deep purple shade, probably one of my favourites from this collection, even though it was also the only polish I found a tad streaky. I don’t go clubbing anymore, but this is something I would have worn to the clubs. It’s fun and edgy, reminds me of city lights so I might take it to a fun dinner with me instead aka dinner with friends, not relatives etc.

Foxy Roxy

Finally we come to the nude taupe shade of the collection, an extremely wearable shade to any office! This is a classic dupe for some very popular shades released by Essie, OPI and Eyeko. Like I said above with Minty Mojito, if this is a shade you’ve been wanting for a while, go with this, it’s the cheapest of the lot and quality / finish is exactly the same.

These polishes are a great buy, I have a shamefully large collection of designer nail polishes which I always buy overseas, and even with postage I end up paying at least $10AU a bottle. So you can see what a bargain these are given the quality is pretty much the same. Check out your local Priceline for these before they run out.

Final Face of Australia’s Opulent Eyes Baked Eyeshadow palette is called Sapphire Desire, what I would like to call the “fun” palette! Unlike the previous palettes, this is does not really contain any everyday / wearable colours and it doesn’t have as much shimmer either, but it is not matte.

The colours are certainly bright and lively! I understand that such a palette would cater for a more specific crowd of people, but if you are a more neutral person seeking to add a bit of colour into your look, you can consider using these as powder eye liners, especially on your lower lash line. Or use them as a soft blended colour on the crease to give your neutral eyes a colourful “glow”. If you really aren’t into brights, then consider the previous three palettes.

This palette is limited edition, it goes for $14.95AU at selected Priceline and Priceline Pharmacies.

Next Face of Australia’s Opulent Eyes Baked Eyeshadow palette is called Endless Nights, acting as the smokey eye palette for this collection. It contains four black and white shades, finished with 2 blues for added colour.

If there was ever a palette I recommend to carry with you, it would be palettes like this one that contain a white, a silver and a black shade.

The reason is because these three are the shades that can add light or darkness to any other colour combination, they are very versatile. A little bit of black to the outer corner and white to the brow bone and inner corner of your eye can be used for any eye shadow colours you are already wearing, and it will instantly transform your eyes into a smokey evening look. Dab on the silver to the center of your lids for a bit more dimension.

Or you can use the white as a highlighter to your cheeks, cupids bow and bridge of your nose if your foundation is starting to wear flat, and the black shadow works as a great eye liner Fantastic on the go shades!

This palette is limited edition, it goes for $14.95AU at selected Priceline and Priceline Pharmacies.

Next Face of Australia’s Opulent Eyes Baked Eyeshadow palette is called Diamonds and Pearls, which contains a mixture of iridescent earth tones and some purples with a shimmery velvet like finish. Again, another great neutral palette that can be worn to work / everyday. This time with a bit of a twist of purple instead of brown, a great way to introduce wearable colours.

The most tanned shade works as a great wash over the lids, the lighter shades would be suitable highlighters with the final shade being worked into the crease or acting as an eye liner. Like the palette before, the same pigmentation and packaging comments apply. Can be used wet or dry, my swatches are dry without a primer, so they are swatched at their least pigmented level.

This palette is limited edition, it goes for $14.95AU at selected Priceline and Priceline Pharmacies.

Sometime last week I took advantage of the fact that I’m back in the city (my job means I don’t have a set location, I’m constantly moving to different client sites) and ventured out to have lunch with my MBBE girls <3 This time we had a special guest, Tina from Face of Australia~ She is fantastic company, so sweet and kind, who not only shares our love for makeup, but has a wealth of knowledge for Asian cosmetics too!

Tina brought with her a bunch of Face of Australia’s latest limited edition products for us to try out. Because it is limited edition, I won’t have the time to do a full review for each of them (maybe later if you guys are really keen?) because I want to post swatches of ALL the products as soon as possible to give you a chance to get them before they are gone forever. So be prepared to see an influx of Face of Australia swatches today!

Today’s post is about their Opulent Eyes Baked Eyeshadow palette in Rich & Famous, they have released four in total. Rich & Famous contains all velvety shimmer neutral and earth colours. The colour range is perfect for an everyday or work look, throw in a bit more of the dark brown for a smokey brown eye, which can take you to evening drinks. The pigmentation on these is pretty amazing, and can be applied dry or wet.

These palettes look exactly like Milani’s Runway Eyes Fashion Shadows, only the colour choices are very different! I love this design, it is adorable, artistic and unusual.

I would however be careful with these palettes, shatter these shadows and you won’t be able to re-pot them back into their pans. Fortunately in true Celina style, I dropped one of them on the carpet at home (about a 1m drop) and it’s perfectly fine.

These shadows are limited edition, they go for $14.95AU at selected Priceline and Priceline Pharmacies. Love the price point!

Pros:

• Lasts up to 2 weeks
• Does not chip
• No scent / smell
• Good alternative to the traditional ‘wet’ polish

Cons:

• Proves time consuming / difficult to apply without creasing / creating air bubbles
• Takes a day to settle on the nail

Price: $10.95AU

Rating:

Where: Priceline or Myer.

I saw these Nail Strips by Manicare some time ago during one of my many runs through Priceline and found them fascinating! They are probably insanely popular and well known by the general blogging community, but I admit to being a bit of a hermit and thought these were the coolest! I wanted to try them out asap

I purchased the french tip version since I’ve never been great at painting these and thought it would be nice to rock these for a while.

I was not impressed with the application the first time, you can see how messy it looks and that’s after about 30 – 40 mins of pressing and shaping for both hands. Not a fast job at all.

But I noticed after a day or so the strips started to settle more on to my nail ridges and the air bubbles slowly disappeared.

However there was something I was not expecting, and that was for the strips to last so long! Here they are at day 7, DAY 7! I’ve NEVER had normal polish last that long without at least chipping a great deal! I was absolutely amazed, however if you look close you can see that it is starting to crack and you can see some regrowth.

As you can see at Day 10, still going strong~ The polish however is clearly cracking a lot more and regrowth is far more visible.

I decided to take the strips off by Day 14 (2 full weeks!). The cracking was very obvious at this stage, though I had not experienced any chipping at this point. I was tempted to push for a 3rd week, but was dying to change the colour.

All in all, I highly recommend these strips for anyone who isn’t keen on redoing their nail polish every few days or dislikes the smell / use of traditional nail polish. They may take a while to apply, but I could see myself repurchasing these if I were going on a holiday or wanted to do my nails whilst on the plane.

Today I have a special guest for you, my mother! When Naive Beauty offered to send me some under eye algae masks to combat puffy bags under the eyes I initially was about the decline because I (thankfully *touch wood*) do not suffer from puffy under eyes.

But then I remembered, my mother does and is constantly scouting for help in this area. Keep in mind my mother is 63 years old! Personally I think she looks fabulous for her age, but then again people always think she’s much younger than her actual age (I hope it’s genetic!!) My mum has always been a skin care junkie, so she was quite excited to take part in my experiment when I asked her to try these eye masks

These are some of her comments:

• You need to lie down when wearing these masks, because they keep slipping off my face!
• The eye masks feel cooling upon application and feel very comfortable.
• I found a slight difference after 30 minutes, the puffiness seems to have gone down a bit, but not completely.
• This is not a mask you can wear whilst doing work, but it is something nice to do occasionally when you want a 30 minute break.
• It’s a nice to have, but not a must. The difference isn’t huge enough for me to lie around for 30 minutes during the day.

The proof is in the photos (those the after shot is a bit blurry, my fault sorry ), I was surprised that there was any difference at all (I have a very pessimistic view on eye creams / treatments in general), so it was a pleasant surprise and I’m glad my mum enjoyed it.

Overall, these aren’t the magical cure to puffy eyes so if you want something that gets rid of them completely keep searching (or get surgery?) but it’s a nice thing to do when you’ve got the time and want a minor change.

You get a pack of 10 pairs for $27.00AU from Naive Beauty, which isn’t too bad~ I may be tempted to give these a shot the next time I manage to wake up with bad eye circles thanks to lack of sleep

Pros:

• Smooth even coverage
• Hygienic dispenser
• Organic & Vegan

Cons:

• Strong herbal / rose scent
• Feels thick on the skin

Price: $59.95AU

Rating:

Where: Inika.

I’m a bit of a foundation junkie, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to honestly tell you how many foundations I already own, so when Inika offered to send me their new Liquid Mineral Foundation I couldn’t turn it down.

The first thing I noticed about this foundation is how strong the rose / herbal scent is, and it seems to last the entire time you’re wearing it though you notice it less throughout the day (maybe getting used to it?). A big plus is that this foundation comes with a pump, so it’s hygienic to use and even to share!

The foundation provides light coverage, very similar to what a tinted moisturiser would give, but it feels a bit heavier than what I’d like in an everyday foundation. It leaves a dewy finish with a subtle glow, and after a few hours I needed to pat it down with either a translucent powder or blotting paper to remove the shine as I have combo / oily skin (so it may perform differently for dry skins). You need about 1 full pump to cover the entire face.

One of the things that stood out to me regarding this foundation was actually the fact that it is organic and vegan. Now I’m neither vegan nor a person who exclusively eats organic foods, but I have a lot of friends on Live Journal (as well as family) who follow this type of lifestyle religiously so it really did stick out to me, especially now I have a brand I can recommend them. Inika claims that the foundation is great for people with sensitive skin, I personally have semi-sensitive skin and didn’t experience any problems with it.

Overall, whilst I really enjoyed the foundation for its formula and application, I mainly knocked down the rating thanks to it’s strong scent and heavy feel, if I’m using something that gives me a light coverage I’d more inclined to use it everyday. If the product gives heavy coverage, I’d use it for photo shoots, which is when I don’t mind wearing heavy foundations given how heavy everything else will be. I’d recommend mixing a bit of moisturiser into the foundation if you want it to feel lighter.

Pros:

• No smudging
• Long easy to use wand

Cons:

• Neither volumising nor lengthening
• Contaminated brush
• Chemical smell

Price: $4.75AU

Rating:

Where: K-Mart and The Reject Shop.

I’ve been keen to get my hands on some BYS products ever since I learnt it was an Australian brand, and after discovering Savvy by DB I thought this could be another great discovery waiting to happen. And it looks like it may need to wait a while longer because I don’t have many positives to give the mascara.

This is their Extreme Volume and Lengthening Mascara in Black, and it didn’t deliver at all in terms of volume nor length. Just judging from my swatch photo, the mascara really didn’t do anything except clump my natural lashes together to simulate definition, which means it actually doesn’t provide any real definition at all.

One of the things that seriously grossed me out was how contaminated the formula seemed to be, as you can see below the brush was just coated in random fluff. I had to clean the brush a few times before I dared swatch this mascara.

A positive is that this mascara doesn’t smudge at all, it lasted an entire day without coming off. But honestly, there are plenty of other mascara that won’t smudge and at least gives some volume and length.

Overall, skip this mascara. I know the price may be tempting, but it will only be a waste of money.