lip gloss

What I’m wearing today… Vivienne Westwood + Nutrimetics

Hi everyone! 🙂

Phew I hope your day has been quieter than mine – unless you like being super busy! I’ve been at an extended family Xmas + Birthday ‘do and am soon due to head off for another get together for my brother’s birthday. Earlier this morning my Dad and I were working on renovation stuff for my kitchen (I’m not sure if I’ve talked about that previously?).

Yesterday I attended a catch up for beauty bloggers based in my hometown of Adelaide. It was a lot of fun despite the horrible rainy weather we’ve been having! 🙂 Welcome to any #ABBM-ers who may drop by as well as all new Twitter followers & Facebook likers! (If you haven’t yet – enter my Xmas giveaway comp! Entries close midnight 4th Jan 2012 +09:30 GMT. Click here!)

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Anywhoo, today I thought I’d post about products that I’m actually wearing/using today! Here they are:

L-R, top to bottom: Vivienne Westwood Let It Rock perfume, Nutrimetics Lash Lightning mascara (it’s black but no shade is specified on the box or tube), and Nutrimetics Lip Lightning lip gloss (Bare Naturel #14767).

Vivienne Westwood Let It Rock

Price range: when I bought it approx. 2 years ago it cost approx. 50 GBP (I get all my Westwood stuff from Hervia’s online shop – they are based in the UK and well worth a visit – excellent customer service and often freebies are included in your parcel! :-))

Where can I get it? For Aussie residents, online, for overseas residents, you may be lucky enough to have a Westwood boutique near you!

The bottle for this perfume is amazing. As you can see in the photo, the lid is Westwood’s signature orb! The scent is nice but NOT for those who like subtle scents. It’s a musky floral fragrance which, whilst designed for women, could be worn by a man (in my opinion!). I love it but tend to only wear it when going out/special occasions, as it is strong. Don’t spray more than once or twice peeps as otherwise you might give your friends a headache! One or two squirts lasts a whole day if you’re not getting too physical, and as you only need a bit, a bottle of this fragrance will last you a long time.

Beautiful rating (I realise perfume is subjective, but!): quality 5/5, value 5/5

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Nutrimetics Lash Lightning mascara *

Price range: $36.00 AUD (but online @ Nutrimetic’s Aussie site you can get it on sale for $24.90)

Where can I get it? Exclusive to Nutrimetics.

I was very excited when I saw this mascara lights up – literally! There is a push button on the lid you can use to switch it on and off, which helps you to apply it if out at night, as there is also a mirror on the side of the tube (smart stuff huh?). The gloss also lights up and I’ll insert a pic of both to show you what they look like here:

This mascara was easy to apply with a big wand which did a whole eye in one sweep. It has lasted all day without any smudging, but I am not sure if it is a waterproof formula or not (I’ll test that tonight when taking it off! ;)). However, lights and mirrors aside, I cannot say that the actual mascara is any better than my staple, Maybelline‘s Great Lash Blackest Black (which is also much cheaper!).

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 4/5 (taking into account the light & mirror!)

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Nutrimetics Lip Lightning lip gloss *

Price range: $29.00 AUD (currently on sale on the Aussie Nutrimetics site for $19.90)

Where can I get it? Exclusive to Nutrimetics

This also has the funky light and mirror! I had a lot of fun showing this one off at the family Xmas do. The gloss has a doe foot applicator and tastes yummy, like berries. This particular shade (Bare Naturel) appears pale pink in the tube but when it’s on it looks pretty much clear, so it’s a nice natural shade perfect for work!

It lasted on my lips reasonably well for a gloss but has a bit of a sticky finish which was not so great (this might just be a personal preference thing but I’m not so big on glosses that have a sticky feel to them!).

Beautiful rating (taking into account the funky light and mirror!): quality 4/5, value 3/5 (I don’t like to spend >$10 AUD on glosses, usually! This is because I use them up quickly, as I don’t wear lipstick often).

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Hope each and every one of you has a great week and that, if you celebrate Xmas, you don’t have much left to prepare (oh the stress!! :-0). I hope to fit in another post this week before the big 25/12.

avon trifecta

Today has just been gorgeous outside…  I haven’t had much of a chance to be out there but I did briefly head out earlier this evening when I took my dog for a walk! 🙂 (Currently it is “daylight savings” here which means it doesn’t get dark until after 8pm or so.)

I’ve uploaded this beauty related post first tonight so as to make up for the totally random post I’ll also be uploading! 😉 Later this month I aim to focus on doing reviews on products readers are requesting to hear about – so far I have been asked to review more hand lotions/creams – any other  requests??? 🙂

Welcome November! Geez not long until the end of the year now… When you start to see Christmas decorations everywhere – and Christmas foods for sale – you know the year is on the way out!

What do people think of AVON products? I used to love getting the AVON booklet from our local distributor when I was in high school, as most of their cosmetics were very affordable and fun to experiment with as a teenager. There isn’t a distributor – or at least doesn’t seem to be one – in my area but my Mum has one. So she often asks me if I want to order stuff.

Anyway, recently Mum’s local distributor supplied her with some free samples. She didn’t want them so I gladly accepted them and gave them a test run. I scored a full size Naturals Mint Lip Pot, and samples of Skin So Soft Bath Oil – Original Scent + Advance Techniques Professional Hair Care Daily Results Shampoo and Conditioner, as per below:

Price range: I’m not sure as these were supplied to me free of charge.

Where can I buy it? exclusive to AVON

The Lip Pot lip gloss is a handy size (about 2.5cm across) and smells lovely with a nice fresh mint scent which I thought was just right. Unfortunately I’m usually NOT a big fan of lip gloss jars or pots as, of course, you have to stick your fingers or a lip brush in there (eew germs!). It was difficult to get the product out to apply to my lips as the consistency of the gloss was very solid despite the warm weather.  I probably wouldn’t buy this product.

I haven’t ever used bath oil before but thought I’d give the Skin So Soft Bath Oil a try. There was approximately a tablespoon of the oil in the sample supplied which was plenty in my large bath tub. Unfortunately the scent was extremely strong and overpowering – a musky floral – which lingered a little even the next day after having a shower (using a different product, of course)!!!  If you like strong fragrances this product may be for you, but it’s not for me!

Last – but not least – the shampoo and conditioner. I’m not a fan of products that contain sulfates (US spelling)/sulphates (British and Australian spelling), which this does, but thought I’d try these out once for the sake of the blog! The shampoo had a nice and fresh fruity scent, but the fragrance of the conditioner was far too strong for me. I couldn’t understand why so much perfume was used as the fragrance didn’t last any longer than other (less strongly perfumed) shampoos and conditioners I’ve used – I could not smell the fragrance on my hair the next day. My hair did look nice and shiny afterwards.  Again these are probably only best if you like strong fragrances and aren’t fussed if something is sulphate and paraben free or not.

Sorry AVON, I was not impressed this time around! 😦

Beautiful rating (for all three products overall): quality 1/5, value 2/5 (I’m not sure of the exact RRP but I think these products would be fairly cheap… Maybe this is a case of “you get what you pay for”? ;)).