Fables in Fashion

Pros:

• Smooth and velvety finish
• Subtle highlight
• Beauitful pinky / gold shade

Cons:

• Extremely light

Price: $28US / $47US

Rating:

Where: MAC Cosmetics, Myer or David Jones

For me, MAC’s Mineralised Skinfinish range has always functioned more as a highlighter and / or bronzer than anything else, which is all good and well but I don’t get a lot of use out of contouring products and would much rather a blush.

So when I saw this shade I thought maybe I could use it as a blush. Unfortunately no dice, this is very much a pinky-toned highlighter. At least for me and my NC 15-20 skin it is.

Porcelain Pink has these gorgeous golden veins infused throughout the baked powder, so when applied the highlighter has a pinky undertone with gold shimmer. As shown below, it’s really a beautiful shade.

Unfortunately whilst it is beautiful, it’s too light for someone with my skin tone. You can hardly see it in the photograph, and in real life it’s “barely there”, which may be great for some people but I’d much rather a product that gives more pigmentation, that way if I want less, I can just apply less.

It’s a beautiful product, but definitely suited to people with very light skin tones.

Introducing Part 2 of the Hello Kitty Collection swatch fest! The products were provided to me free by the company to potentially feature on the blog. I hope this helps you decide whether these items are for you or not!

Hello Kitty Pressed Powder – Pashmina Abricot

Unfortunately this powder was a bit too dark for my skin tone, but playing with the powder with my fingers, it seemed soft and pigmented. I’m sorry I can’t talk about it’s wear nor finish on the skin If you really want to know, please let me know in the comments below. I’m happy to go out and buy the lighter version to test myself, anything for you guys <3 This product goes for $14.95.

Hello Kitty Pressed Powder – Pashmina Ambre

A semi-shimmery bronzer, really lovely shade which I’ve been using to help contour my face. It’s a great bronzer but not unique. It’s not as pigmented as say the bronzer from Face of Australia, but still slightly more pigmented than NARS’ Laguna Bronzer. This product goes for $14.95.

Hello Kitty Blush – Venise

A dusty rose blush, packaging is really cute. The powder is relatively pigmented, a bit too dark for my personal tastes (I prefer light pinks), would look nice on darker skin tones. Has a matte finish. This product goes for $12.95.

Hello Kitty Nail Polish – Eva Pink

A hot pink polish, this is two coats. I really loved this polish, the quality is great as is the pigmentation! If I wasn’t already swimming in bottles of polish I’d consider picking up a few myself. This product goes for $9.95.

Hello Kitty Body Glitter – Angel Rain

This would work great for adding glitter to small wears, like maybe cheek bones or stratgeic areas on a décolletage. I don’t really see this being used on any larger areas of the body given how small the applicator is. One thing to note is that the glitter is dry, so you’ll need to use some glitter glue to help it adhere to your skin better. I’d personally prefer the glitter to be finer. This product goes for $9.95.

As mentioned before, the Hello Kitty range is available exclusively from Priceline

Pros:

• Incredibly cute design
• Average pigmentation
• Contrasting / Complimentary shades
• Applies smoothly with a pearl finish

Cons:

• Easy to shatter

Price: $50AU / $23US

Rating:

Where: David Jones, Myer and MAC.

I saved my favourite till last and no I had nothing (okay maybe a bit) to do with the name! Sakura I’ve already reviewed Giggly and Miss Behave from MAC’s Quite Cute collection

Like I said for the last two blushes, the texture and quality is about the same for me~ Soft and luxe, and unfortunately not easy to fix if you break it (so try not to!)

I really did enjoy the pigmentation in Sakura It is more suited for my particular skin tone as it is lighter and not as deep in shade as Giggly. Do check out my previous reviews if perhaps you want a deeper blush or even a highlighter~

Pros:

• Contains all three of my favourites
• Comes with a mirror
• Compact and great for travel

Cons:

• Strips may be a bit narrow for brushes

Price: $98AU / $55US

Rating:

Where: Mecca Cosmetica or Sephora

When I saw this pop up online, I knew I had to own it. It contains the blush Orgasm, the highlighter Albatross and the bronzer Laguna; all three shades are my absolute favourites so it was a no brainer for me.

I’m not going to review each product individually; I think I’d rather do a separate post for each one. So instead I want to talk about the packaging for this, which is great. It fits easily into the palm of my hand, is durable and even contains a mirror for easy on-the-go usage.

The only draw back in an otherwise fantastic product is the size of the strips, particularly the blush and highlighter are so tight, I can already see product transfer occurring! Guess I’ll just have to be extra careful when using this, can’t wait to take it traveling with me I should note this is limited edition, so hop to it if you love these shades too~

Pros:

• Perfect neutral / natural shades
• Lovely pigmentation
• Comes with a handy mirror
• Very slim size, perfect for travel

Cons:

• None I can really think of?

Price: $32US / $65AU

Rating:

Where: Sephora or Mecca Cosmetia

This palette comes from Stila’s Limited Edition Garden Bliss Set, I decided to just review the palette, given to me that is the defining item. I’d be happy to review the mascara and lip gloss in another review another time, but those particular items are not limited edition and so is not as time sensitive as this

Unlike many of the other Stila palettes, this time the blush is in powder form rather than cream, making it a little less versatile than the holiday palettes since you can’t use it on your lips.

Those features aside, this palette is a delight, especially if you have a lighter skin tone. The four shadows are perfect neutrals for lid, highlighter and crease, and the blush colour is the perfect pink for a subtle flush on the cheeks The powders apply like a dream and the pigmentation is just right!

All in all, definitely give this palette a whirl if you can! The collection is limited edition, so get it while you still can

Pros:

• Contains a range of colours for varied looks
• Product amount is generous
• Mostly pigmented and silky powders

Cons:

• Some eyeshadows can be slightly too powdery
• Blush pans are small and too close to eyeshadows
• No mirror

Price: $7.95AU

Rating:

Where: Priceline

Recently whilst browsing through Priceline (as you do) I came across a bunch of new palettes released by Savvy by DB, an affordable Australian brand (it’s not just me right… what’s with the American spelling for an Aussie brand!?) that distributes solely out of Priceline.

They had a new range of eyeshadow only palettes and then this one which had both eye shadows and blush, at only $7.95AU a pop I couldn’t resist and picked up almost one of each (minus one which I knew I wouldn’t use). So expect future reviews on them! (one of the palettes was just neutral eyeshadows too! My current obsession :3)

I was pleasantly surprised by these palettes, I wasn’t expecting much given the price. In fact the last time I spent this amount on cheap eyeshadows were very powdery and just smelt of talc Admittedly whilst some of the shadows were a bit powdery when swatching with my fingers, when used with a brush they were much better. And I didn’t detect any “talc” smell, which is a big plus for me. Eye shadows that smell of talc or are too powdery are a sure sign that the product is low quality.

The shadows applied smoothly with a brush over my eyes (I almost never use the applicators provided), I think the colours had very good pigmentation, not amazing but much better than many shadows that have crossed my path and can’t imagine anyone having any real issues using them.

My only gripe would be the blushes, they are placed really very close to the eyeshadows, so when I went in with my brush to pick up some of the product it also picked up powder from the eyeshadows :/ Which I found pretty annoying, so I had to be extra careful. And a mirror, even a small one would make this palette very travel friendly.

The blushes on their own however were pretty decent, they are pretty pigmented so only just dip your brush in gently else you run the risk of picking up too much product and looking like a clown

Not going to deny that this is a pretty good buy! I’d recommend them to people wanting to build their makeup collection or want to try new colours without breaking the bank.

Blush. This stuff is amazing, not like you didn’t already know that. It proved to be a total life saver for me on Saturday when I was suppose to meet up with Sefie at 11:15am. I woke up at 11:00am. Within 5 mins, threw on liner, mascara, concealer and blush! All 4 items that instantly make me look awake But that’s besides the point of this post.

But seriously, wearing blush compliments any complexion. It can completely lift your look, leaving you appearing more awake, fresh and polished. I’ve been dabbling with powder and cream blushes for a while now, and I thought I’d give my take on them.

Powder Blushes

Pros
Easy application and very easy to blend against naked, foundationed or powdered skin.
Dry products tend to last longer than wet / cream products.
Large variation of colours, since powder tends to be more common.

Cons
Can ‘sweat’ or rub off over the course of the day.

Cream Blushes

Pros
Long lasting
Gives a dewy fresh look, depending on the colour it can appear like it’s your natural flush
Can easily be applied with fingers

Cons
Won’t blend well over powder foundation, especially when applied with your fingers.
Can pose a bit of a learning curve for those new to make up

Want longer lasting blush?
Apply your powder blush OVER your cream blush! Just make sure the colours suit you, it’ll last you all day and night