Pros:

• Elegant packaging
• Moisturises lips throughout the night
• Has a herbal subtle scent
• Leaves lips with a slight sheen
• Contained SPF

Cons:

• Leaves a wax like residue

Price: ~$19AU

Rating:

Where: David Jones or Myer

I remember reading about how Victoria Beckham raved about how much she loved the Eight Hour Cream by Elizabeth Arden, and so whilst I was travelling earlier last year I decided to pick up a little gift set of the same cream, and with it came this cute lip balm.

The one you see in the photo is actually my second tube, I have about less than 1cm left of my first tube. The first thing I noticed was the herbal scent, which I actually didn’t like at the start. I found it to be too over powering, but over time I got used to it and now I’m rather fond of it.

The product has a slight peachy tint to it, but when applied it goes on clear. The product does feel rather thick and almost wax like on the lips, which is why I only ever use this at night before I go to bed. I’d imagine it would be way too heavy for the day time, unless worn alone. Pity because it contains SPF which is ideal for day time use.

By the next day my lips feel moisturised but still slightly waxy. So it’s certainly not the perfect lip balm, but it does quite a good job none the less. I’d be keep to find a lip product that could do the same if not better job without the SPF component.

Pros:

• Adorable packaging
• Lovely fruity smells
• Can coat both lips at once
• Light moisturisaton

Cons:

• Not very moistursing for winter or very chapped lips
• Doesn’t last very long
• Packaging stains very easily

Price: $6.35AU / 3.29US

Rating:

Where: Addicted 2 Lip Balm or CVS.

EOS Lip Balms have been floating around the blog and youtube world for some time now, it’s a spherical shaped lip balm designed to provide moisturse for your lips.

The packaging is without a doubt the most loved and talked about feature of the product, I haven’t seen anything like this before, simply adorable!

As for the product itself, that’s kinda of a different story. It smells lovely and does give a bit of moisturisation, but honestly it doesn’t stand up to the quality of other balms that really do help chapped lips. This reminds me a little of the Soap Opera Balm I reviewed last week, certainly not suitable for Winter, but would be great for Summer if you suffer from very mild dry lips.

But let’s face facts, it’s not the best lip balm out there, but it has earnt it’s spot in my personal makeup bag because it smells delicious and is just so cute! I’ve already admitted to being a superficially visual person, what more do you want from me!? j/k

Pros:

• Very moisturising and lightweight
• No scent
• Cream is on the rich side, better for drier skins

Cons:

• Tub packaging
• Slightly greasy
• No visible changes

Price: $85AU ~ $120AU

Rating:

Where: Estee Lauder, Myer or David Jones.

I’m hoping you can see a bit of a skin care trend with me, I don’t really review stuff like eye creams or moisturisers (or any long term products) until I’ve at least finished one container of it or have used it for more than 30 days, because I don’t think you can really assess the results unless you do give it that amount of time.

I received this as a deluxe sample from a promotion Estée Lauder was running earlier in the year and have only just recently finished the entire container (lasted me just over a month). I used it primarily as a night time moisturiser, despite it containing SPF15 (I did this because I personally prefer to use SPF20+ products during the day), the product states it is for Normal / Combination Skin.

I found it to be very moisturising, after applying it it did feel slightly greasy, but by the time I woke up the next morning it was gone and my skin felt nice and hydrated But that’s pretty much where it stopped for me.

Despite the packaging clearly stating it is suppose to help reduce lines and wrinkles, I didn’t notice any changes on my skin. Admittedly I don’t have wrinkles nor real fine lines (apparently the ones I complain about under my eyes are contour lines that everyone has, I dunno…. *glares at Sefie*), but I would have at least expected some softening of my “contour” lines if this product had any beneficial effects on lines.

All in all, it’s a great little moisturier for keeping your skin hydrated, the SPF15 is certainly an added bonus which I’m sure many will love. It’s great, but not great enough for me to want to stick with it permanent, especially when there is a wealth of other fun products to try out~

Pros:

• Leaves lips feeling hydrated
• Very cute packaging
• Has a fruity subtle scent
• Leaves lips with a slight sheen
• Lasts up to 6 hrs

Cons:

• Slightly greasy residue

Price: $3.99AU

Rating:

Where: Priceline, Chemists and Supermarkets.

During my regular trip into Priceline I recently came across this new (or not so new?) lip balm by Maybelline~

Now we all know how superficial I can be, two things drew my eye to this cutie! The packaging and the price I personally hate minty lip balms, can’t stand them, so I tried to choose carefully and read the ingredients~ Seems I did well because I really love the one I selected, flavour is Anti-Oxidant Berry.

It applies just like most lip balms, from a tube. It is clear and just 1-2 swipes is enough to leave your lips feeling hydrated for around six or so hours, less if you plan to eat and drink.

I love the scent, it smells lovely, nothing overpowering. It gradually becomes more and more subtle during wear to the point where I almost forget I have it on. Unlike other balms this doesn’t feel heavy at all. It’s relatively lightweight with just a hint of greasiness, which doesn’t bother me.

Highly recommend this lip balm, it’s the one I wear every morning now before I head off to work if my lips need some balm and it has so far served me well

Pros:

• Very lightweight
• Scent-less
• Leaves skin feeling soft and moisturised

Cons:

• Tub packaging
• Doesn’t seem to reduce dark circles

Price: $58AU / $29US (15ml / 0.5oz)

Rating:

Where: Clinique, David Jones, Myer and selected pharmacies.

Clinique’s All About Eye Cream is one of my favourite eye creams, I’ve been through about 3 tubs of this stuff now. It claims to de-puff eye bags and reduce dark circles; I honestly never really believe this when using products. I don’t think any product can do that, (maybe momentarily they can reduce puffiness) just a healthy lifestyle, lots of water and sleep. (IMO!)

That aside, I really do love this eye cream for its lightweight formula, it doesn’t feel heavy at night. It feels very moisturising, gives me the impression it relaxes my skin, momentarily easing any fine lines and / or tightness in the skin.

I only use this moisturiser at night, and by morning my skin does usually feel softer. Not sure if that’s the sleep or moisturiser’s doing though. If this were in a tube packaging, it’d be perfect!

I really do love this moisturiser, it doesn’t give me any miracle cures, but it’s gentle enough to daily and most importantly it leaves my skin feeling great afterwards

Welcome to another review by my BFF Sefie, if you didn’t manage to read her last review you can check it out here. Enjoy!

Pros:

• Bigger bottle (60g)
• SPF 30
• Heavier coverage

Cons:

• Pump dispenser on a tube
• Quite light in colour
• Quick-drying, not easily blendable

Price: $38AU

Rating:

Where: The Face Shop outlets

Note: Sefie’s skin tone is NC 42

I’ve heard fantastic things about the Etude House brand from friends, and I really wanted to love this product. I love the packaging and styling, but for this product, that’s about as far as it goes. I actually picked this up on the recommendation of the sales assistant as the darkest BB cream they had (and sitting on the same shelf as the Face Shop one). In store it looked fine, but when I was applying it on myself, it came out much whiter and dried to a powdery finish that just made it look even more pale.

This BB cream dries very quickly, which makes blending it out a chore. I applied it first with my fingers, then blend out with a stippling brush. This reduces the ghost-face effect, but is still too light for my taste, so I either have to use a foundation or powder foundation over it.

I haven’t used this cream enough to say whether it’s had any effect on my skin, but I did find that I didn’t have to blot at all during the day. I also generally didn’t need to use concealer since I could apply a bit more of the cream.

I’m quite dubious about the packaging as well. Normally tubes are the best packaging as they allow you to get every bit of product out. But since end of the pump is on the end of the tube, it means that the product pools at the opposite end of where it’s supposed to be! To be fair, I haven’t started having problems with getting the cream out, but considering the problems with the colour, I haven’t used it very much.

Obviously, I will not be repurchasing this cream for myself. But if you have medium skin that’s still a bit darker than most BB creams allow (NC30ish), you might find it more suitable.

Before we get on to the review, this is a guest post by my dearest friend Sefie who shares my unhealthy love for makeup, she is an amazing makeup artist in her own right (most amazing Edea evar)~

Sefie is also quite the asian cosmetics / skin care expert, is an amazing cook AND she’s my official Fables proof reader (plus a gazillion other things), seriously is there anything this girl can’t do? I’ve nicknamed her my Asian Cosmetics Correspondent

To top it off, her skin tone is quite a few shades darker than my own, so hopefully with her help I can reach out to readers who aren’t just NC15-20. Enjoy! Hoping to feature Sefie more regularly on the blog <3 I know you guys will love her as much as I do

Pros:

• Darker shade then usually available
• Light to medium coverage
• Easily blendable and buildable
• Oil free

Cons:

• Still a little bit too pale
• No SPF
• Not recommended for application with brushes

Price: $28.50AU

Rating:

Where: The Face Shop outlets

Hiya, it’s Sefie again~ This time, Celina has very kindly let me loose on Fables to talk about the shared love we have for BB (blemish balm) creams. Most BB creams are developed for lighter Asian skin tones and only come in one or two shades, but some of us darker girls (I’m an NC 42), still want the benefits of SPF, skin care and lightening with light coverage. So I have bravely gone forth to sample a couple of the creams available to us here.

This was the second BB cream I’ve tried and loved (the first was one I picked up in Japan, and I couldn’t read the name since it was all in kanji!). It’s very light and has a faint powdery scent. I actually started off using this as a primer under my foundation, but after using it for about a month, I’ve found that my skin tone has evened out enough for me to just use the cream, concealer and loose mineral powder to set.

The consistency is mousse-like, nicely thick when you squeeze it out of the tube, but blends smoothly with a sponge or fingers. I wouldn’t recommend a brush for this because it does tend to sink into the fibres more than your skin.

After about 10 hours, I still feel I need to blot, though I’m quite obsessive about having a matte face. If you don’t mind a dewy complexion, then you could probably get away with not blotting at all.

Once this tube finally runs out (*sob!*), I will definitely repurchase it again. I’ve used it nearly 5 days a week for about 6 months, and I’ve still got about a third of the tube left. Great value!